The Sting of War
by Gregor0The0Overlander
Summary: Gregor returns to the underland to face a new adventure in a war against the stingers. Gluxa. Updated weekly, or most likely more often.
1. Chapter 1

**Let me be the first to say welcome to what I am hoping will become one of the best Gregor the Overlander sequels ever written. The reason for this is that I will be taking suggestions on where the story should go from readers, these can be submitted in the reviews. I may not choose your idea the first time but keep submitting. I am not the best writer and I enjoy constructive criticism greatly.**

Gregor flew on Ares back feeling the wind rush through his hair. Elation pumped through his veins as they climbed high to speed towards the earth, pulling up at the last second. Luxa was flying next to him on her bond Aurora, she looked stunning as her beautiful hair flapped wildly in the wind. They were laughing as they twirled through the air effortlessly side by side. Luxa gained a slight advantage, speeding in front of him she dove into a cave off to the left. He flew after her zipping into the cave faster than he thought was possible. He entered the cave, and immediately Ares began to fade away. He fell hard to the ground skidding to a stop. He looked around himself "Luxa...Ares?" He called out. Looking to the side he noticed a set of stalagmites, and a repulsing smell whenever he breathed in. He thought he recognized the cave, but he could not put his finger on where he knew it from. Silence ensued for a few minutes, then he heard the sound of one rat running down the cave in front of him.

A force not under his control made him turn on his heels and dash off in the other direction. He noticed a strange light that made the tunnel have a dim, evil aurora. Memories flew through his mind, and he grimiced as though feeling a real pain. He knew exactly what this cave was. This was where he had his final confrontation with the Bane. He raced on faster using his rager ability to keep from feeling the exhaustion of running for so long. He wanted desperately to turn and fight his assailant, but his legs would not let him. Suddenly he skid to a halt, causing a small avalanche of loose pebbles on the cave floor.

Gregor stared at the cave ahead of him, taking slow deep breaths attempting to remain calm. The path ahead of him forked in two directions, and neither way looked familiar despite knowing his whereabouts. His echolocation skill was failing him, not only depriving him of the ability to see around corners, but leaving him in almost complete darkness. Behind him he heard what now sounded like the patter of hundreds of rat feet on the cave floor. His heart was beating so fast he could feel it in his head. A decision had to be made, the rats were closing in. A blood curdling scream emanated from the cavern to his right. Time seemed to stand still and everything around him became fuzzy as all his thoughts focused on one thing, the source of the scream "Luxa". Diving into the cave on his right he attempted to find Luxa, fearing the worst. He emerged into a much larger cavern which was the scene of his final battle from the last prophecy, the sight that greeted him made him sick to his stomach. The Bane had a Luxa in its hideous moth. He watched in horror as it dropped Luxa's lifeless body to the ground, punctured in too many places by the razor sharp teeth of the beast. The Bane then turned toward him. Blood was flowing from all of the wounds, and he could tell from his current vantage point that it was to late, she was gone. He ripped his attention from the bodyy and focused on the Bane.

In a voice that could only be described as a deep growl that struck fear into its victims the giant white rat said "your next!" It lunged, propelling its huge mass towards him using its rippling leg muscles. Its claws reached out for Gregor, all of them glinting like freshley polished knives.

"You will pay for this" Gregor whispered to himself in stunned horror. Realizing he had no time to dodge the attack he reached for the sword he always carried at his side. Then he made the shocking realization that it was not there, he had left it by the side of his bed this morning. He tried to dodge the attack even though he knew it was futile. The bane grabbed him in midair by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground just as the rats that had been pursuing him throughout the labyrinth caught up. He swallowed nervously, he couldn't believe it, he had failed, not only to save Luxa's life, but also his own.

The Bane dangled Gregor over its mouth. "Goodbye Gregor the Overlander" realeasing its hold it dropped him into the dark abyss of its maw.

Gregor awoke breath exploding from his lungs, covered in a cold sweat that had soaked his sheets. He stifled a terrified scream that had been building up in his throat since the moment he awoke. "Everything is okay" he told himself "It was just a dream". He pushed off the covers on his bed and got up.

Ever since leaving the underland he had been plagued with horrific nightmares about the Bane, Luxa, and Ares. He went over to the bathroom door and carefully opened it making sure not to wake his two sisters.

It had been about three years since his return from the underland and things had not gotten much better for him. He was still horrified of the Bane even though he knew it was dead. He felt lonely, because none could understand what he had gone through in the overland. He was ostracized from his peer group at school, except for his two best friends Larry and Angelina.

He turned the water on and splashed some in his face. The icy cold water helped him to wake up and realize that there was nothing to fear he was safe, with his family. His father had taken back up his job as a science teacher, and they were no longer struggling financially. He took a few more deep breaths while clutching the sides of the sink so hard that his knuckles were turning white. He released the edge of the sink and stared at his chest in the mirror. He traced a few of the scars, reading them like stories. He missed the underland greatly, The beautiful architecture of the city, the perfect temperature, but mainly the people he had come to love, Ripred, Luxa, Vikus, and yes even Howard. He would never tell his mom about his longing to return to the underland though. She would throw a tantrum, and then they would move for sure. A frown found its way onto his face when his thoughts strayed to Ares. He missed his bond almost more than his other friends in the underland. Sighing he turned to the door of the bathroom and gently pushed it open. His mind was finally clear and thinking straight. He climbed back into bed knowing he needed the sleep. It took a while but ever so slowly he drifted off.

He woke up and yawned knowing he was not in another nightmare. The rest of the night had been uneventful, thankfully. He considered going back to bed, his alarm had not yet gone off. He turned his head to the side observing the old wooden table by his bed. The alarm clock's usually glowing numbers were dim, he must of accidentally unplugged it while he was dreaming. Startled he raised his arm and looked at his watch, it read 7:15. He jerked his head up off of his pillow, the school bus would arrive in twenty minutes. He vaulted out of his bed, ran over to the light switch, and turned it on light flooded the room. "Everyone get up the school bus arrives in twenty minutes". The bright light had made even him flinch.

Boots sat up groggily and mumbled in a kind tone "good morning". She exited her bed and traveled over to the restroom, tottering from side to side as she walked.

He then turned his attention to Lizzie who had drawn the covers tightly over her head. He chuckled softly at the childish act and strolled over to the side of her bed. "Come on sleepy head, you don't want to be late for school".

Muffled sounds came from under the sheets, he could not decipher them exactly but he thought it sounded like "five more minutes". Gregor grabbed the sheets and gently attempted to pull them off of the bed. Lizzie resisted for a while but finally she lost her grip and Gregor stumbled backwards a few steps "Why did you do that?" Lizzie asked groaning and drawing her legs to her chest where she rubbed them rapidly with her hands. "It is so cold in here" she continued. It wasn't that cold after you got use to it the thermostat read seventy-five degrees.

Holding up his hands in mock defense, and shrugging his shoulders Gregor responded "What would you have me do" the sarcasm evident in his voice "you would have never got up on your own".

She mumbled something that Gregor could not catch and then shuffled into the bathroom. He turned back to boots who had somehow gotten her head stuck in the sleeve of her shirt. He tried to contain it but burst out laughing.

She looked indignantly at him and said "Gregor, help". He got her head back through the sleeve and helped her put it on correctly. Even though she was now five years old she did things that made Gregor remember the two year old chasing a ball in the laundry room.

He turned from his sister, and began his walk downstairs. They all shared an upper room of their new house. He and his father had been able to convince Grace not to have them move to Virginia, but in order to make that happen they had to relent on remaining in the apartment building. Gregor was fine with it though, anything to try and help him forget about the underland, because it saddened him that he could not return. His parents slept on the first floor of the house in a room that after there old house seemed like a master bedroom. He could smell the aroma of bacon and eggs wafting up from the kitchen. He could tell his mom had been up for a while, and had prepared a bountiful breakfast for them. He walked the rest of the way down and around the corner, turning into the kitchen. His mom looked happier than he had seen her in a long time. There family was on the mend, getting over all the 'scars' that they had obtained in the underland. Only Gregor could not begin to mend though, his 'scars' had gone to deep. His father was sitting at the table dressed in a black silk suit and tie. He was eating casually and reading the newspaper. From what he could see, the front page depicted more war going on around the globe.

"Good morning sweety" Grace said to him as he entered "the bus will be here in ten minutes, so you need to hurry and eat". He sat down and practically inhaled the eggs and bacon set before him, following it up with a glass of orange juice. His dad got up excusing himself from the table, and went over to kiss Grace goodbye. He picked up his suitcase and headed for the door.

Before opening it he turned and said "see you later Gregor, make me proud and try hard in school today".

"I will" Gregor replied waving. His dad then shut the door.

A while after their dad left Boots and Lizzy came down the stairs. "Good morning, did you sleep well" Grace asked.

"Yes" Lizzy and Boots said in unison. They sat down and began to eat slowly, allowing Gregor some time to think.

He could go back to the underland, not permanently just for a visit. Tomorrow was Saturday he would have the whole day to himself. He could tell them he was going to the library to complete a school project. He would only be gone for a few hours. He could spar with Ripred, letting him release all of his rager moves. Ever since he had returned from the underland, he had wanted to fight. He had considered joining the wrestling club at school, but quickly decided against it. He could check up on how Howard was doing with his medical training. He could check up with Mareth who was basically his best friend in the underland. But above everything else he could go and see Luxa. They could go on another picnic perhaps. He juggled around a few more ideas of things he would like to do, but all the time knowing he could never do it. If things were to go wrong his parents would search for him there first. His thoughts began to drift onto the topic of whether Luxa still loved him as much as he loved her.

A loud horn sounded, alerting them of the arrival of the school bus as well as jerking him back into reality. "Time to go" Gregor said quickly, pushing his chair out from the table. He went grabbed his backpack from his room, and joined his siblings at the door. "Bye mom" Gregor said quickly echoed by each of his siblings, they kissed their mom goodbye.

"Bye have fun at school" she responded to all of them.

As the school bus pulled away from the curb Gregor had the feeling that he was being watched. He shook off the inkling and turned back to his freinds. He had to focus on school and avert his mind completely from the underland.

**Thank you for reading the first chapter I am sure that it will only get better from here please remember to leave a review. I will try to update this story weekly, and sometimes I will put two chapters up at once to celebrate holiday's**


	2. Chapter 2

**I would like to thank the guest who left a review, they inspired me to get this chapter out so soon after the first on. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. :-)**

Gregor talked with his friends on the way to school, almost allowing himself refuge from thoughts of the underland, but like a dormant virus he knew it was destined to reawaken and infect him. Angelina kept sliding closer to him, causing him to move away. Sighing heavily he slowly began to realize that he was largely disinterested in the topics his friends liked to converse about. Chess and who likes who just did not capture his attention any more.

"What do you think Gregor?" Asked Larry. He had not been paying attention for the last bit of the conversation, and had no idea on how to respond. So instead of answering incorrectly he shifted the topic.

"How are you doing in math?" Gregor asked Larry watching his eyes light up at the mention of his favorite subject.

"Its great!" He answered excitedly "currently we are learning about inverse differentiation". He began to expound on the subject, and from the look on Angelina's face he could tell she was getting bored of his explanation. Thankfully they were both saved by the bell so to speak as the bus abruptly skid to a halt in front of their school.

"See ya later Larry, can't wait to hear more at lunch" he said in a friendly tone vaulting over the seat in front of him and landing in the central isle of the bus.

He made his way to his first period class, history with Mr. Jolly. He was not looking forward to this, his teacher talked so quietly that Gregor was not even sure if he was teaching at all. He walked through the door just beating the bell by no more than a few seconds. He slid stealthily into his seat in the rear of the classroom, watching as the other students slide there desks away from him.

He suffered through the class and just when he thought he might die of boredom, he heard the melodious sound that signified the end of class. He made it through the uneventful day until after lunch when he went to chemistry. He had just entered and taken his seat next to Angelina when he heard over the loud speaker the president of the school announce "there will be a temporary lock-down due to a shady character walking around the school".

Angelina whispered to Gregor "I'm scared". He could visibly see her shaking, he put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Everything will be alright" he said. Not two seconds preceding his encouraging words there was a sound that chilled him to the bone a single gunshot rung out in the hall.

Screaming came from every person in the room as a foot slammed into their door. His eyes widened as he watched the door fly open, creating a small indent in the wall where the door handle hit.

"Nobody moves...nobody gets hurt" he said in a menacing deep voice. Gregor moved a little toward him accidentally. The assailant caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and pointed his gun at Gregor "this is what will happen if you don't do exactly as I say". Time seemed to go into slow motion as the intruders finger pulled the trigger. He watched helplessly as the muzzle of the pistol flashed. Even with his rager abilities he could not dodge a speeding bullet.

Gregor closed his eyes and awaited the imminent impact of the bullet, but it never came. He slowly peeled his eyes open and stared in front of him at the shocked expression on the shooters face. Gregor followed the path of his eyes to the floor, what he saw made his heart stop. Laying in front of him Angelina had a clear bullet hole in her chest. It had obviously penetrated her heart.

He stumbled towards, her his knees threatening to give way below him, and leaned down next to her. Tears streaming down his face her rolled her onto her back holding her in his arms. "You didn't have to do that for me" he said, his voice almost catching in his throat.

"Yes...I...did" she struggled to respond her voice slowly fading "because...I...love...you...". As the last word came out he saw the light inside of her eyes disappear, as death claimed her.

He bent his head down and cried for a few minutes, thoughts of everything they had done together. Suddenly his eyes dried completely as he allowed rage to overtake his soul and mind, losing consciousness. He stood up slowly began calculating the distance between him and his target along with other technical factors like the position of the weapon, he stood only five feet away from the perpetrator. He found the exact position that he needed for an optimum chance at taking him down. He watched as he pointed the gun toward the other side of the room, creating the opening he had been waiting for.

Completely riding on his instinct he vaulted forward, performing an impressive spin kick that slammed the villain in the side of his head, before he could even realize that Gregor had moved from his previous position. The gun fell from his hand as he flew back a few feet, slamming into the hard ground. Gregor quickly snatched up the gun and pointed it directly at his head. "Why" Gregor at first whispered, then gaining in volume and anxiety he screamed "WHY!".

"I needed refuge after robbing the bank up the street" he responded nonchalantly. Gregor's grip on the gun tightened noticeably, as his hand stopped shaking. He was even angrier now, he had done all of simply for economic gain. "What are you going to do...shoot me" the nervousness was evident in his voice.

"No" Gregor said staring him down "death is too good for you". Faster than lightning he angled the gun downward and fired off a round that hit him squarely in the knee to disable him. A small smile played at the edge of his mouth, he began to come back from his rager side, after realizing what he had done he was horrified. "The justice system will take care of you" Gregor said with slightly less confidence walking away from the body behind him crumbled into a tight ball the pain evident on his face.

He saw the horrified looks on the faces of the other students, one of them was talking to a 911 operator. He knew he had lost control due to his rager side but he would never admit it. He set the weapon on the counter behind him and stooped to pick up Angelina's limp body. The wave of grief that hit him made him fall to his knees still cradling her lifeless body.

The police came shortly after that entering to see the disabled perpetrator, and Gregor rocking back and forth holding Angelina. They handcuffed the villian and took him out to the police car, never to be seen again by Gregor. An ambulance pulled up in front of the school and doctors came in and carefully removed her body from his arms. They took her to the hospital to check if anything could be done, but he already knew that they could not do anything. A member of the police bent down and began to ask Gregor a series of questions concerning the incident. He felt alone even with the police officer on the floor next to him until his mother came and sat next to him, laying an arm around his shoulder. This brought about a whole new round of sobs. She had been briefed by a police officer outside on what had happened. All the death he had seen occur in the underland during the wars seemed minimal in comparison to this one death.

"You could not have done anything" his mom tried to reassure him "it happened to fast" she began to cry with him. Gregor just continued to sit there completely silent. "Come on, it will be better for you to be at home". She helped him up and over to the car where his father was waiting as well. They had already picked up both of his siblings. On the trip home he stared out of the window, letting his mind drift to all the happy times they had together. It was not long before they were pulling into their drive way.

* * *

Thirty days later, he had gotten over the shock and gained back most of his functionality even though he was still quite saddened from the incident. If her death had hit anyone harder than him it had been his best friend Larry, he seemed like a totally different person now. That was when he realized something was wrong, a flash of movement was see-able through the window of their house. Pushing his saddened thoughts aside Gregor said "wait...is anyone suppose to be in the house". He was prepared to protect his family from anything, he would not fail again.

"Not as far as I know" his dad responded, "it was probably nothing, I am sure that we are safe" his dad thought he was suffering from paranoia. They all walked in with Gregor bringing up the rear of the group. As he was about to turn to shut the door, he felt eyes laid squarely on his back, watching his every move. Calculating the figures exact position using echolocation, he saw that the figure had what seemed to be five knives in each hand. He quickly shifted his feet to the left and jumped toward the wall. He could see that the figure seemed unfazed by his skill. As soon as his feet connected with the wall he reversed his course and flew toward the cloaked figure, preparing to deliver the knockout blow. Far faster than Gregor the figure raised one hand, no wait it looked more like a paw, and deflected the force of his body easily throwing him to the ground.

"Come on boy I thought I taught you better than that" he could now see that the face beneath the hood was not human. Ripred. He laid on the floor in shocked silence for a few seconds watching the obvious smirk on the rats face.

"Is that really...you" he managed to get out.

"The one and only" the rat replied with a slight chuckle. Then he saw Ripred's eyes narrow and stare past him. His father had grabbed a gun and was pointing it straight at Ripred. "Don't worry pops" he responded eyeing his dad and removing his hood "its just me".

"Ripred" Lizzie squealed running past her dad and enveloping Ripred in a giant hug. "I missed you so much" you could see in the rat's eyes that he had a soft spot for her.

"I missed you too" He replied in a soothing tone. Then he turned back to Gregor who had gotten back onto his feet "We need to talk". Gregor could tell that he had some horrible news.

* * *

They all gathered around the kitchen table, except Boots who had also been ecstatic at seeing Ripred, and Lizzie. "Okay...It started two days ago" He began to explain picking his words carefully "We had originally thought that we had weakened the stingers to a point where they were out of the picture. Not to mention that they seemed largely unintelligent at least compared to the cutters. I was patrolling the borders of Regalia, just to ensure their safety, and that is when I came upon a patrol of twenty stingers. I was able to fight them off rather easily but then I saw another patrol of fifty coming my way. I killed them all with some difficulty, and traveled in the direction they had come from. I traveled for two hours and there I found there stronghold, crawling with the monsters. I stayed out of their sight, but could still overhear there conversation. There numbers have increased to a nightmare level, and they are planning on attacking Regalia, to exterminate the killers." He ended.

"What do you want me to do" Gregor asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"It is an impossible task for the Regalian army, and one rager, but with two ragers we might just stand a chance against there numbers. "I have come to bring you back to the underland to help us destroy them, if you are up to it". His parents did not miss a beat in responding.

"No" they said in unison. "you are not Dragging my baby into another war" Grace said moving towards Gregor defensively.

"But mom I have to go, all my friends are counting on me in the underland" Gregor responded pleading with his eyes.

"We came so close to losing you last time, I wont allow that to happen again" Grace responded to Gregor "you can see your friend to the door" There was no room for negotiations, so he led Ripred to the door.

He leaned over to the rat, who had been surprisingly silent and said "I will sneak out of my bedroom tonight".

"I took the liberty to assume that much" Ripred replied "that is why I did not argue the point further with your parents". Ripred exited and Gregor carefully shut the door. He turned toward his bedroom it was already late, 10:00 PM. He yawned and got into his bed.

This may be the last adventure in the underland Gregor thought to himself. After this his mom would probably make there family move for sure, if he survived. And on that happy note Gregor closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**Please R&R and remember if you have an idea for the story you can send it to me through PM. I will make sure to give credit.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thankd go out to the anonymous reviewer, for encouraging me to quickly finish this chapter. Please reread my first two chapters and tell me if you like the writing style better. Thanks and I hope you enjoy reading.**

As Gregor had expected from his past experiences, his nightmares woke him from his slumber. It was another one of those dreams where he could not protect the ones he loved. He was stuck in one place sinking into quicksand in the jungle while watching stingers slowly tear Ares apart, a shiver ran down his spine. He quietly got out of bed and slipped on an old pair of jeans, that were faded and had holes in both knees. He then dawned a decently nice wight t-shirt, he was fully prepared for his journey.

He decided that his parents probably trusted him enough to have not put any extra security measures in place to keep him from going to the underland. He began to head for the door, slowly but surely making progress. He soundlessly placed his feet between the objects on the ground around Boot's and Lizzie's beds. He reached out and attempted to turn the knob, but he quickly realized that the lock was engaged holding it steadfast. "Darn it" Gregor cursed under his breath, sighing he turned and once again made his way through the obstacle course surrounding his two sister's beds.

He carefully grabbed hold of both of the metal levers on either side of the window and began to turn them up. "How am I going to get down?" Gregor thought to himself. Maybe he should of considered that his bedroom window was on the second floor. He lifted the latches the rest of the way and grabbed the base of the window pulling it upward. he peeked out the window toward the ground, shocked he jumped hitting his head on the base of the window. He slowly turned and sighed with relief, both of his sisters were still asleep. Sticking his head back out the window he whispered, reprimanding Ripred "don't scare me like that".

"Climb on quickly we can discuss this insignificant detail later" he patted the back of the huge bat he was riding on. Gregor climbed on and gently shut the window, as they sped off in the direction of central park.

"I don't believe I have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance" He said to the giant bat. He was a sort of ginger color with swirls of blond along his back and his stomach he was well toned, but looked to be younger than most of the bats he had seen.

"My name is Jupiter" he replied in the wispy voice all bats in the underland spoke with "It is a pleasure to meet you Overlander, I have heard much about you". They sat there for a while in silence, during that time Gregor observed the strong muscles that were in his wings, flexing and contracting as he flapped. He wondered what people on the ground thought when they saw a giant bat fly by. He was positively bubbling with excitement at the thought of returning to the underland, for the time being he decided he would ignore the impending war between regalia and the stingers and let himself live in the moment.

"Jupiter is a rager as well" Ripred said. Gregor had never heard of any bats being rager's and he wondered if the rager abilities helped him to the extent that they helped a fighter versed in sword battling. When they were about ten minutes out from Central Park Ripred decided to brief him on the rest of his 'duties' once they reached the underland "When we get down there we will need to find you a new sword, and fit you with some thick armor to prevent stingers from poisoning you. Then we will have you go through some training to hone your abilities, it seems like you are quite a bit out of practice. One stinger could probably take you down with ease.". Ripred, always the optimist thought Gregor sarcastically.

Jupiter gracefully came to a stop a few feet from the boulder that covered the entrance. There was a chill in the air since it was mid December, but there was no snow coating the ground, it was completely clear. The moon cast a beautiful almost eerie light over the grass field that stretched before them, it had a calming effect on Gregor. "Come help me move this boulder boy" Ripred said grunting as he struggled against the block. Gregor followed his orders and began to pull on the opposite side of the rock. It was rather heavy, and Gregors muscles were not as large as they had been. They managed to completely remove it from the entrance, and then they stepped to the side to allow Jupiter to get through the opening since he would be leading them down the tunnel. Ripred used a hand gesture, and a mock bow that suggested "after you". Gregor considered not doing this simply to spite the rat but he didn't want to waste time so he jumped in feeling his feet collide with the concrete lining the walls of the tunnel. The light dimmed slightly and Gregor looked up to see who knows how many pounds of rat coming towards him. He dodged to the side as Ripred almost smashed him.

"Be more careful or I might die before we even reach the battle field" he said scornfully then picked himself up off the ground and brushed off the dust that had gotten on the front of his jeans and shirt.

Ignoring his comment completely Ripred commanded "Come help me move this back into place, don't want anyone wondering down here by mistake". Grunting in indignance Gregor slowly helped to move the boulder back, shutting off the last bit of natural light. Darkness enveloped him, and without his echolocation he would have been blind. Jupiter hopped in front of Gregor and Ripred down the cave. He reminded Gregor of Ares with how he shuffled uncomfortably through the narrow tunnels, just like when they had gone to find the Bane. Even though he had no way of telling what a monster it would have become, he wished he had drove his sword through its skull. He watched as the concrete turned to brick, then small pebbles in a concrete like mixture, and finally to natural stone, that was not cut very smoothly. A huge drop spread out in front of them and he could hear water running below, Jupiter smiled and quickened his pace noticeably. He ran up and jumped off the ledge as he extended his huge wings curving around to fly back toward the cliff.

Gregor and Ripred readied themselves, then jumped off at the same moment, both landing squarely on Jupiter's back, as he took off like a bullet towards the city of Regalia. In what seemed like no time at all light began to flood his vision giving him no more need to use echolocation, then the beautiful city of Regalia was sprawled out before him. With its intricate architecture, and spires of stone that shot into the sky, it was a sight to behold. He could not wait to see his comrades from previous adventures again. They flew up to the giant palace in the center of the city, they curved to the right side of it. They landed in the place where he had started and ended so many quests and prophesies, a place of great triumph and mourning of lost souls, the great hall. Gregor realized that the landing platform was devoid of life unlike every other time he had approached it "where is everyone?"

"I didn't tell them you were coming" Ripred said, bracing himself for imact. Jupiter landed and Ripred stepped of then continued "I wasn't sure you would say yes".

Grgor got off then they both turned and thanked Jupiter, who in turn bowed graciously and flew off after saying "I will enjoy working with you in the future Gregor the Overlander".

"Follow me Vikus will want to see you, then you will get some rest before training".

Ripred began down the hall, but pulled up short when Gregor asked "When can I see Luxa". He saw a nervous look pass over Ripred's features, although it was difficult to tell one of a rats expresions from another. It only lasted for a fraction of a second then he regained his composure. "What is it" Gregor asked concerned.

Ripred responded in a softer voice than Gregor was use to hearing him use. "It's nothing really, just that you leaving hit her harder than anyone else even possibly you. She thought you would never return, so to save herself from heartbrake she has spent the last three years convincing herself that she never truly loved you. I am not sure where she stands, but she will probably come back to you once she realizes you have returned". Gregor was confused and worried, Ripred was not one to have false concerns. He had knew Luxa loved him and still did, he just knew it from somwhere inside his soul. So he shrugged of the concern, convincing himself it was not founded on any solid information, it was probably just a hunch.

The thought still ebbed at the back of his mind though asking him "what if?" "what if she no longer loves you, what if she loves someone else?". The last thought made him a little bit queasy. In the time it took him to think they had covered the ground between the great hall and the war room. He peeked inside to see both Vikus and Mareth slaving over various maps of the underland, and arguing over what troop placements were the best. When he stepped through the threshold they both looked up.

"Gregor" Mareth said with a smile, he walked over and gave him a rib crushing hug.

Gregor laughed feeling light headed from the lack of oxygen "its nice to see you again too Mareth".Mareth released Gregor, and Vikus came over offering him a hand. A warm smile spread over his face, even on the part paralyzed from the stroke. "Welcome, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence". Ripred answered for him "he is here to assist in the war effort, and to see his girlfriend" he jested.

Red spread over Gregor's face, and he looked towards the ground shuffling nervously. He silently made a promise to get back at the rat later. Vikus gave a slightly disproving and defensive look in Gregors direction "she is currently resting in her chamber, you can see her when she awakes. speaking of rest though we should probably all get some sleep, allow me to show you to your room". Ripred said goodnight and so did Mareth they then parted ways.

It took them a while but he finally found himself standing in front of the door to the room where he would be staying, it was bigger than his entire house incuding the front and back yards. "I will see and talk to you in more depth tomorrow Gregor I am sure you have many questions to ask concerning the war". Vikus shut the door and Gregor was submersed in silence. He headed over to the private bath, he probably smelled horrible. He stripped off his filthy garments and laid up to his neck in the sweet smelling warm water. he wondered what his family would think and do when they woke up to find him missing. He hoped that they would not try to enter the underland to get him back, because if he was truly honest with himself, he knew this is where he wanted to be. He wondered what he should say to Luxa when he saw her again. How did she look now, was she taller? He got out and put on some underlander clothes that had been placed there for him. He decided he should get another hour or two of sleep, so he headed over to the bed and drifted off.

**Please remember to review, please it helps me to work on finishing the chapters faster.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I would like to thank Jon for his review, and in answer I am currently planning on making another book after this one. I will see how the rest of my school year goes, on that note just took the ACT, it was surprisingly easy. without further postponing, the next chapter please remember to review.**

Luxa woke up and laid there for a second considering the day ahead of her. First she would have to argue with the council on who they could trust as allies. Even though she bonded with Ripred, almost no one trusted the rats. Then she would have a war meeting with Mareth which was a nice break from the harshness of the council. Then she would walk through the infirmary to visit with the sick and injured to give them hope. She imagined it was what Gregor would do if he was ruling by her side, "stop it, stop torturing yourself" she said out-loud.

She sighed and got out of bed. She had convinced Ripred that she had gotten over loving Gregor, but nothing could be further from the truth. She had fallen more in love with him in his absence. She kept imagining waking up, and walking down the hallway to the dining hall and seeing Gregor sitting there. Although she knew this was pure fantasy, he was never coming back. His family had even moved from the apartment to who knows where, without even a goodbye.

She took a shower, got dressed, and then grabbed her sword. It was quite breathtaking, a golden hilt encrusted with every type of jewel from ruby to diamond. The blade was forged from tempered steel, a new material they had recently discovered how to make. It was the strongest blade in the underland, the blacksmith had done a good job. She sheathed her weapon and exited the room.

The dining hall was not far away, but she liked to take some of the back passages, to give herself time to think, and be alone. What would she say if she were able to see Gregor again. "Hello Gregor, its been a long time" no what was she thinking way to formal. "Hello Gregor I missed you" that sounded much better. She had to remind herself that these were things she would never get to say to Gregor. She wondered into a part of the castle she had never been in before. she looked around but could not remember where she had come from.

She decided she would wonder until she found her way back to the dining hall. On the right there was a door covered in ancient regalian, possibly written by Sandwich. she walked over and ran her hand over the rough stone door, there were not many doors in the palace. She pushed her hand against it, but it refused to move. There was an oddly shaped keyhole in the center of it, what could be contained in this room perhaps another prophecy.

Leaving the door behind she went to find Vikus who would be interested in her discovery. She wondered if they could just knock the door in, but she discounted the idea because they might damage the contents. they would have to find this key, maybe the markings had a clue of its location. It was actually relatively simple to retrace her steps to her bedroom, and she made her way to the dining room. Preparing herself for talking with the council later, but all the preparation in the world could not have prepared her for what she saw when she entered the dining hall. On one side of the table sat Vikus, in the middle sat Howard, and on the other side someone she thought she would never see again, Gregor. A small gasp escaped her throat, but other than that she just stood there taking in the scene. "It is only a dream" she reminded herself, "don't believe it or you will just break your heart again, you will wake up soon".

Then Gregor looked up all the joy in the world seemed to be contained in his beautiful brown eyes. His features were the same as when she had last saw him, except that he had become taller and his muscles had become more toned. She just wanted to savor this moment, always live in it, "if this is a dream, let me never awake" she thought to herself. He stood up and began to walk toward her at a loss for words. She ran towards him, even though only ten feet separated them, it seemed to take an eternity to cross the distance. "This must be real, no dream is this vivid" she thought as her heart began to soar. She reached him, wrapping her arms around him feeling his warmth, it was real. She pressing her lips into his, the feeling was intoxicating as it seemed to spread through her entire body. She could tell Gregor was shocked at first, but then he put his arms around her losing himself in the kiss.

Finally she pulled away, wanting to tell him of all the turmoil she had gone through, and of the good times she had had since he had left. She could not find the words to say what her mind was saying, thankfully Gregor broke the silence. "I missed you so much" Gregor said entertwining his fingers with hers. It sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

"I missed you too" Luxa said. She just wanted to be near him, for him to always be at her side. They then realized that they were not alone, and being watched by Vikus, who looked amused, and Howard who looked as though he was considering the many ways he could kill Gregor. They walked over towards the table and took seats next to each other a little embarrassed. Howard was shooting a disapproving glare towards Gregor, he was not going to let him off the hook for this Luxa thought chuckling to herself. She didn't like making Howard angry but she did not understand what he had against their relationship.

When they were once again settled Vikus said "good morning Luxa, now let us return to what your question was Gregor".

"Oh my question, it was...uh...oh ya, how many stingers are we looking at here". she could tell his mind was no longer on this, he wanted to talk with her about what he had been through recently, and truth be told so did she. She did not want to have to deal with other people right now, but she knew that she could not just abandon the kingdom, not even for a day. She watched as Mareth entered and took a seat next to Howard.

"There are around fifty-thousand stingers as far as we know, but that might just be one of there many bases or a false base, we are potentially looking at millions" the number shocked everyone in the room, even Mareth who had not heard this estimation before. They could never take down those kind of odds, even with four ragers. They would be needing a lot Ripred came in picked up a chair and walked over to where Gregor and Luxa were sitting. He pushed their seats apart and sat in between them.

"Hey..." Gregor began in protest, but was silenced when Ripred began by saying "We will have time for that later I need to tell you something that will be of great importance during the war...".

Luxa started talking to Howard and Vikus "I found a door deep in the castle, it was covered with ancient markings and it had a keyhole in the center. Isn't it weird that no one has found it yet".

Howard responding "we will need to look further into this, is there anyone who still knows ancient regalian".

Vikus continued "If anyone would know a dead language like that, it would probably be Ripred" It was obvious after he said it, Ripred was conversant in crawler, cutter, stinger, gnawer, and human he was bound to know it.

* * *

Ripred had been talking with Gregor about how he would need a flyer to get him around places, like Jupiter who was his bond. Not a bond, but someone he could depend on during the war. Ripred had suggested Enos because he was a rager who had recently, and he could protect Gregor better than any other bat he knew. Gregor said yes, although he sort of felt like he was betraying Ares, he new he could not take this task on alone. They decided that Howard would go with Gregor and take him to where Enos often hung out. Luxa would go with Vikus and Ripred to attempt to decode the ruins.

"I will see you tonight Luxa" he said laying a light kiss on her forehead. He knew he was going to get quite the talk from Howard during their flight. "Goodbye Gregor, until tonight" Luxa said then walked away. He turned back to Howard who was positively steaming, but he was keeping his composure extremely well. "Are we ready to go?" he asked, not meaning any harm.

"You best be careful what you do Gregor the Overlander, you have a larger effect on her than you could ever know. We are ready to depart though, I will call for Nike, you should meet me at the take off point in ten minutes" Howard tuned and walked away without another word, leaving Gregor to wonder the halls for a little considering his words. He did not want to hurt her, but he could never make a promise that he wouldn't because that would mean that he could never return to the surface world. He knew that after he had succeeded in this quest he would have to return to his family. They were probably in disarray right now trying to figure out where he had gone. Soon they would figure it out and attempt to reach Regalia, he should probably ask Ripred to send some rats to lead them down safely if they came through the central park entrance. He would have time to do that later after he asked Enos if he would assist him during his time in the underland.

It was probably time to make his way to the take off platform, he changed his course and began heading towards it. He wanted to live down here forever, to live with the one he loved. The take off platform was mainly empty except for Howard and Nike. "Its is nice to see you again princess" Gregor said respectfully with a bow.

"As it is to see you Overlander" she replied in the same tone. She leaned down to allow them to climb on, then shuffled toward the edge and jumped off unfurling her beautiful wings. They plummeted, almost to ground level, but at the last second she pulled up curving between the buildings with her incredible agility.

"Gregor, if you want to get close to Luxa eventually, you need to move down here. I was originally against the idea completely, but I realize that you are nice enough of a guy. If you can't come to live down here stay away from her" Howard finished, looking expectantly at Gregor. He knew Howard did not aim to hurt him through his words, but everyone cut his heart like the sharpest knife. He was beginning to have a hard time keeping his composure.

"I want to stay down here more than anything else in the world, but my family might not let me" Gregor said, on the verge of tears. He wanted to be with Luxa more than anything, but his family would literally drag him back to the surface if they had to. At the thought of being away from Luxa forever, tears began to stream down his face. He got rid of them before Howard could turn around to continue his thought.

"I think of you as a brother Gregor, I completely trust you to follow my suggestion. I will no longer check up on you and Luxa" with that he turned forward again. In that small sentence, Howard did something that Gregor would have never thought would happen, he gave him permission to date Luxa.

**Please tell me if you enjoyed the chapter, or if there is something I could improve. I will not say anything negative about your criticism. Remember review please.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I would like to thank someone for reviewing, it means a lot to me :-). I actually was up at three this morning writing this chapter. I have 135 views on this story already, thank you for your time. Remember if thrre is anything that can be improved shoot me a message. I hope you enjoy reading, and remember to leave a review.**

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They traversed the ancient hallways for the fith time, they were going around in circles but she still couldn't believe it. The hallway she had been down just earlier that morning had completely vanished. "It was right here" she said, standing in front of a solid stone wall, she had been feeling the wall for a hidden door, for at least an hour.

"Maybe you were just mistaken, you were under a lot of stress this morning before you heard of Gregors return" Vikus said, patting her on the shoulder. Luxa just knew it had been there, she retraced her steps from her room to where the hall should have been for the sixth time.

"Okay, I started from my room, exited and turned right. I passed the first two doors, and took the third one that was on my left. Then I came down this hallway, and about halfway down there was a hall to my right." Luxa finished, but now there was just a wall, just like hundreds of other walls in the palace.

"Maybe it is a hidden door" Ripred said, he went forward and was about to knock on it when she slapped him. How dare he make fun of her, it was uncalled for.

"This is not a joke! It was really here!" Luxa said, she had allowed her anger to get the best of her. She looked down at her feet and in a small voice she said "sorry, my anger got the best of me".

"Apology accepted your royal pain, but contrary to your belief I was being serious" Ripred walked back to the wall, and placed his ear on it. He brought his front paw back, and swiftly knocked on the wall. The sound was unmistakable, a hollow 'thunk' rang out through the hall. A smile spread across his face, "seems as though you were right".

"How do we operate the door though. We should spread out and search" Vikus finished the statement and began to search around a table that was a little to the right of the wall. Luxa went over and began searching under the rugs. Who would want to try and hide the hall from the rest of Regalia. It would have to be someone who had access to the palace twenty-for seven. There were very few people she would even chance a guess at. Probably was some guard or servant who randomly found it one day. There was nothing under the rugs, so she moved on. They meticulously searched every square inch, but they found nothing.

Luxa came back to the center of the room, shortly followed by the rest of their party. "Maybe we should do one more search with torches in hand, to illuminate the dark corners". Vikus and Ripred shrugged, having no reason to say no and went to the opposite side of the hall to grab a torch. Luxa went right next to the hollow wall and grabbed one of the torches. 'Thunk' they all turned toward the wall, the sound had defiantly came from it, but it looked the same.

"Grab the torch on the other side as well" Ripred commanded, you could see the wheels turning in his head. Luxa obeyed picking up the next torch slowly. A similar sound rang out through the hall, then the wall began to creak. Luxa jumped back unsure of what was about to happen, this was the most excitement she had had in a long time. The wall slid straight into the ceiling and a hallway appeared from behind it, as if by magic. "Well would you look at that" said Ripred taking point of their entourage.

"I have never seen this part of the palace before, it is strange that someone would want to hide it." Vikus's thought intrigued her, who was this mysterious person. And why would he keep a simple palace hall so well hidden, this new thought ruled out her original idea, it would have had to of been someone who was exceptionally smart. They stopped in front of the door.

"Well, here it is" she said staring at the doors markings. The letters were colored red, and written in beautiful calligraphy, the size of the letters was tiny. "Can you translate it?" She looked expectantly at Ripred. It was an interesting skill, knowing all language Luxa thought that she might want to learn that some day, it would defiantly help in meetings with other species.

"Most of the symbols I know but a few I can't decipher" he ran his hand across each delicate line reading what he could. "Underneath the _._._._._ snow, lies the _._._ to ages ago, if the queen of _._._._._._._._ releases her hold, on the location of forgotten _._._._ ." Ripred looked nearly as confused as he was when he started, then he cracked a joke to lighten the mood "well, at least we know whatever is behind this door, was left by Sandwich". He achieved in making both herself an d Vikus laugh.

"There are the same number of glyphs, as letters in each word, including the missing ones" Luxa looked at the unknown words again "we should probably start with the third line, because it seems as though there are not a lot of words that would fit 'if the queen of _._._._._._._._ releases her hold" she gave Vikus a quizzical look.

"Four of the underland groups fit within the length constraint. The nibblers, the spinners, the stingers, and the crawlers" the information was helpful, it definitely narrowed things down.

Ripred noted "from the wording of the passage it dosn't seem as though we are on friendly terms with them. So that would count out the nibblers, and crawlers". They thought for a while longer but could not figure out anything else..

Vikus broke the silence, realizing they were getting nowhere on that line "there may be a clue in the wording of the other lines of the passage. We should move onto the last line 'on location of forgotten _._._._ .'"

Luxa looked at the first two lines "the ending words of the first two lines rhyme, so it would stand to reason that the third and fourth lines would rhyme as well. What words rhyme with hold?.

Ripred began to raffle off words that rhymed "cold, mold, told, gold, bold, fold. That is all that I can think of, but it would have to be a noun in the last sentence, so it is either mold, or gold". Luxa ran her hand back over the first unknown word, removing a little dust. "wait a second, that word is silky, so it 'Underneath the silky snow'".

Vikus realized "that would mean that the decision on which hostile group it was has been made". Both Ripred and Luxa looked at him quizzically. "Well you see spiders create a silk like web, so it could only be the spinners" Vikus finished.

"I seriously doubt the last word is mold, so it is most likely gold. So all that is left is the second line 'lies the _._._ to ages ago'" Luxa said, her mind was beginning to wonder away from the task at hand and back to Gregor. She could not wait for tonight, when they could just be together and talk.

She was jerked out of her fantasies when Ripred said "I've had my suspicions on what that last word was, I am pretty sure it is key. It fits perfectly and makes logical sense".

Vikus read the entire clue "'Underneath the silky snow, lies the key to ages ago, if the queen of spinners releases her hold, on location of forgotten gold'. So it seems as though we will have to pay Queen Wevox a visit and ask her of this forgotten gold.".

"I will take myself and Gregor, just in case they decide to be difficult" A somewhat evil smile crossed Ripred's face.

"but you can't just leave us at a time like this. What if the stingers come while you are gone, what should we do." the stress was evident in Luxa's voice.

"Don't worry I will keep your little boyfriend safe" Ripred said, completely seeing through her ruse. "I will call for Jupiter and we will depart as soon as Gregor returns with Enos".

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity of flight they had managed to reach a small secluded alcove by the Fount. They glided down toward the ground, and Nike landed gracefully in front of the cavern. It seemed familiar, this cave he had definantly seen before A shiver ran down his spine, it looked exactly like the cave from his nightmares. He dismounted, realizing he did not have a weapon. "Maybe you should take point, I don't have a weapon" Gregor realized he sounded frightened.

Howard responded "There are no need for weapons, we are among friends". He looked at Gregor skeptically, attempting to figure out what caused his sudden change in demeanor. Gregor realized it was nothing, just pure coincidence.

"Never mind, I will go ahead" Gregor said moving into the cavern without another word. The cave was rather long, but as soon as he entered there was a shuffling, and a bat flattened him. It dug its claws into the front of his shirt, Howard looked unsure of how to proceed, he was pretty sure this was Enos.

"Why have you trespassed in my cavern" Enos said in a menacing voice. He was holding his face just inches from Gregor's face.

"Ripred sent me, I am Gregor the overlander" He saw a reaction in his eyes at the first name, but not his. Enos released his hold on Gregor and stepped off looking over toward Howard and Nike

"So why did Ripred send you?" Enos asked.

"He sent me to ask you if you would fly me to places while I am in the underland" Gregor tried to red the giant bats face. He looked as though he was about to say no, but then started to reconsider.

"I guess I could do this for you and Ripred, it seems as though you are close" He seemed to be thinking back.

Howard had stayed quiet, but he came over to ask Enos a question "How do you know Ripred?".

"Ripred and I have been close ever since the end of the war with the gnawers. I was bonded to Bilus, we were a perfect match. We moved as one taking out more gnawers than could be counted. But one claw got through our defences, and hit my bond in the back. He fell off my back, so I turned to go get him, refusing to believe him dead. As I was flying back a rat caught hold of my wing, and tore me out of the sky. I was given many wounds, but none of them were mortal. And just as the rat was about to deliver the final blow the Bane bellowed out and fell to the ground dead. The rat standing over me started to run off. I was unable to move or even call out, but Ripred came over the heaps of dead bodies. He was looking for the smallest sign of life, he reached me and almost passed. But on further inspection he found I was still breathing. He lifted me onto his back and took me to this cave, where he treated my injuries, and visited every day. I would do anything for him, so I will be your flier, for the time you are down here.".

"I appreciate your willingness to help" Gregor said "thank you". A smile spread across Enos's features and he stooped to one side to allow Gregor to get on. "Do you know the way back to Regalia?". Enos shot into the air before answering.

"Like the back of my wing. Ripred taught me that overland saying" Gregor smiled as they sped back towards Regalia, back towards war, but most importantly back towards Luxa.

**Please review, and I will most likely be able to get the next chapter out in 3-4 days because I have to memorize 50 lines of poetry :-(.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I would like to thank both The Overlander11 and Colin for there wonderful reviews, it means a lot. This chapter was originally not going to get done for three to four days, but i was able to finish it in about two days. Enjoy the story.**

Flying with Enos was amazing, he had at least equal skill to Ares. As they neared the city of Regalia, Gregor could finally see the color of Enos's pelt. He was a beautiful pearl white from the tip of his tail, to directly before his nose. His nose was a light pink, and his eyes were a stunning ruby color. Gregor suddenly realized something and gasped "your an albino". It was a tone of amazement not condescending, he was the one in a million.

"Yes" Enos said thoughtfully "this is why I have live on my own for the past year, Bilus, and Ripred were the only ones who liked me as an individual. All the other bats only saw me as a weapon due to my rager abilities, so after the war I was ignored by almost all of them. Actually now that I think back, I may have known Ares before he was bonded to Henry, we were pretty good childhood friends.". Gregor had never heard Ares mention anything about Enos, but then again Ares had not told him much about his childhood.

"Ares never told me about you" Gregor said, then silently said to himself "you are going to make him feel bad, why would you even say something like that". A look of disappointment passed over Enos's face, and an uncomfortable silence followed.

Thankfully Howard broke it "so who are your parents". It succeeded in distracting both Gregor's and Enos's mind from the previous subject.

"You probably have never heard there names before. My father was Skyway, and my mother was Ace. My father died before my birth, in a battle against the gnawers. My mom died in giving birth to me." Enos finished and his voice trailed off, his life had been one bad event after another, kind of like him. Gregor also thought that he acted a lot like Ares, he had no idea what to say.

Gregor finally figured it out "well you have another friend now". Enos looked shocked at first, but then a smile spread over his face.

"You have no idea what that means to me Gregor, thank you. Do you want me to fly you to the landing platform?" Enos asked. Gregor shook his head up and down signifying a yes. He dove toward the platform, effortlessly pulling up at the last second, he landed and allowed Gregor to get off. No sooner did his feet hit the ground, when he was flattened by Luxa in a hug. Enos chuckled, and went over to talk with Nike.

"Your back" she said obviously, gently lifting herself off of him and offering him a hand. He took it, and when he was up he pulled her in for a kiss. This kiss was better than the last if that was possible. They finally pulled apart gasping for breath. "So is that Enos, he is so pretty" Luxa said looking at the bat behind him, who was telling a bad joke to Nike. Gregor burst out laughing at the scene.

"Yep that is Enos" Gregor said "Did you guys get into that door deep within the castle". Before she could even say anything Gregor read her face "you couldn't get it open".

"Well not exactly, we found out what some markings on the door meant, and we know where the key to the door is. It is in the spinners land, queen Wevox apparently knows its location" They both turned at the sound of shuffling from the main hallway.

"Well if it isn't Enos" Ripred said walking toward the albino bat. Gregor watched as Enos's face lit up, and he turned, offering Nike the perfect chance to escape. She took it without hesitation, shooting off the landing platform.

"Ripred it has been a long time, almost a week since your last visit i was beginning to think you forgot about me" Enos said in a joking tone. Ripred smiled and made his way to right in front of him.

"You are much larger than when I last saw you, and you have finally developed a sense of humor" Ripred said, they both laughed. Gregor turned his attention from their conversation and back to Luxa.

"Come" she said grabbing his hand, "you must be starved". She led him toward her room, stopping off at the dining hall to order 'room service'. She asked the servant to make two sandwiches. Then they made it the rest of the way to her room. They both entered and Luxa shut the door, they went over to the couch and just sat there holding each other. Luxa broke the silence asking "what has happened to you in the overland".

"It is a long story" Gregor said

"I would like to hear it, we have nothing better to do" she snuggled up closer to him.

He began by telling her of after he left the underland, his feelings at that time. He told her of trying to fit in at school, the good times he had had with his overland friends. He told her of all of Boots antics, and how much Lizzie had grown. He told her of how his mother and father were doing well, and how he now lived in a larger house. He moved to more recent events, recounting the morning that Boots got her shirt stuck on her head. Luxa laughed at this, her laugh was contagious. He then told her about how his friend had been shot by a robber. She was shocked, he could tell that she had thought of him as faster than any weapon, but that sadly was not the truth. He recounted how Ripred had came to get him and he had to sneak out. He also recounted what Ripred had said about her and him. "What have you been doing" he asked Luxa, before she could answer there was a knock at the door. "Come in" they said in unison, thinking it was the servant with their sandwiches, they were quite mistaken.

"There you are lovebirds" Ripred said in a sing-songy voice, then in a more serious tone "We need to go to the spinners land now before the stingers attack". Gregor was disappointing, he had wanted to learn what Luxa had been doing since he left.

"But we have not even gotten our food yet" Gregor said, stalling for time.

A mischievous smile crossed the rats face "if you are referring to the two sandwiches, they were delicious" He sat there licking his lips. Gregor sighed he couldn't stall for any more time. "We will need to go get you suited up for the journey. I think I know of the perfect armour and sword for you" Gregor got up and kissed Luxa goodbye.

"I will see you when you return Gregor" Luxa said, waving "stay safe".

"Goodbye Luxa" he turned and followed Ripred out the door. "So what armor did you find for me to wear" Gregor said trying to distract himself from thoughts of Luxa.

"We made some adjustments to your old armor, I don't know a great deal about it, but Mareth does. Your sword is one nearly identical to Luxa's. It has a golden hilt, and is inlaid with gems. The blade is of the strongest metal ever made. You might survive this little trek after all." Ripred and him had reached the take off area by then and he bellowed out "Jupiter! Enos!" Both bats came speeding up, by the platform.

Gregor ran for the edge of the platform, ready to embrace the feel of the rush of adrenaline. He pushed off the ledge and began the free fall, he watched Enos curve underneath him. "Hmpfh" Gregor exhaled when he abruptly hit Enos's back, the bat was not as skilled at cushioning the fall of a rider as Ares, or Nike. "Where to overlander" Enos said in a soft purr.

"To the armory in the arena" Gregor said. Then he remembered the argument he had with Ares on his second excursion in the underland, so he added "please".

Enos flew low to the ground on there journey, careening skillfully around buildings. He began to fly toward a wall with a small circular opening in it. "Hang on!" Enos yelled over the din created by the rush of wind. Gregor was about to argue that they would never make it, but it was already to late to change course. Gregor flattened himself on Enos's back, as he drew his wings tightly to his side moving on nothing but momentum. Gregor felt as his back grazed the top of the opening, they had shot all the way through. Enos unfurled his wings and climbed back up to above the rooftops.

Gregor could not believe they had made that, he did not know what to say at first. He finally found the words though "you accuracy while flying is amazing" Gregor was still shocked that they had made it unscathed.

"Yes that is due to my rager skills, they give me excellent aerobatic skill" Enos seemed overjoyed by the compliment. In a playful tone he said "I bet we can beat Jupiter and Ripred to the arena".

"Lets do it" Gregor once again flattened himself against the bats back, as his wings became a blur of motion. They flew at a higher speed than Gregor had even flow in his dreams. They easily skirted by Jupiter, who realized that it was a race and attempted to pick up speed. It was no use though, he didn't even know how Enos was able to fly this fast. They reached the arena far before Ripred and Jupiter. "I would not call that a race" Gregor said "we won far to easily".

Enos let out a "huh huh huh" then continued "we were racing that was just my warm up". They were able to talk for a while before Ripred finally showed up, looking disappointed at both of them.

"You should not have wasted your energy, we have a long flight to the lair of the spinners" Ripred said in a condescending voice. Gregor and Enos both looked at the ground, he had forgotten completely about the mission in the excitement of the moment.

"We will have plenty of energy for the journey, don't be such a killjoy Ripred" Jupiter said, covering for both of them. Gregor silently made a note to do something to thank the bat later. Ripred's face softened again, turning back into it's joking self.

"I guess I was a little harsh" he admitted "Let us go and get you fitted with armor". He began walking toward the armory, they all followed him silently, the mood had been killed. The weight of this mission began to settle in on Gregor, it must of been important, otherwise they would not have sent four ragers on it during a war. They reached the room, and Mareth was in the center meticulously buffing the last piece of Gregor's armor.

Mareth looked up from his work, a smile spreading across his face. He walked between Ripred and him, putting an arm on each of their shoulders "so what do you think of the armor, I thickened the key striking points that both stingers, and spinners aim for.". He walked Gregor over to the suit and began to place each piece on, one at a time asking if it fit well. It all did except for the helmet, which he immediately began reshaping to fit him better. He looked over at a mirror and viewed himself, he looked good. It was quite impressive, the combination of jet black armor and a golden sword. He drew it from the scabbard and tried it out feeling the weighting. It was exactly the same as Sandwiches sword, and felt perfect as it sliced through the air.

Mareth finished his helmet and placed it on his head, "I wish you luck on your journey, fly you high Gregor the Overlander and run like the river Ripred the gnawer".

"Fly you high Mareth, remember to send someone to retrieve us if the stingers begin the attack while we are gone" Ripred said. Mareth nodded and turned to Gregor.

"Fly you high Mareth" he said. Mareth gave him another rib crushing hug, and they were on there way. They mounted there fliers, and flew off toward the spinners lair, and hopefully a key.

**Thanks for reading, and remember if I am portraying any character incorrectly let me know by review or PM. Please remember to review.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I would like to personally thank both ironicbear32 and The Toast Ninja for there reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to review.**

Gregor held his hand off to the side feeling the wind rush past it, like out the window of a car, this had become quite the boring ride fast. He decided it would be better than nothing if he played I spy with Enos. "Do you want to play a game, the point of it is to guess what I am looking at with my echolocation. I will give you hints until you get it" Gregor finished hopefully awaiting an answer.

"That sounds much better than just flying in silence, I will start" Enos sent off a barrage of sound waves. "I see something pointy" Enos said, and patiently yet expectantly waited for Gregor to respond. He sent off sound waves, slowly swiveling in all directions to get good coverage. There was nothing in front or to his right or left that fit the description, so he turned around. It only took one sound wave to tell that something was horribly wrong, but he sent out a second just to be sure.

He turned forward and said under his breath "stingers". Enos looked quizzically at him, then Gregor said in a slightly louder voice "quickly tell Jupiter that we are being perused by a group of at least one-hundred stingers". He patiently waited for Enos to finish conversing in the sounds that were far above the human capacity to hear.

He finished and spoke to Gregor "Ripred thinks it may be better if we turn and fight them now rather than waiting for more to join them". Gregor shook his head in agreement, unsheathing his sword creating a beautiful sound of metal on metal. Mareth had designed the scabbard to sharpen the sword every time it was inserted or removed. "We will both fly low when Jupiter gives the signal, I will attack from the air while you two stand in defense on the ground" Enos awaited his heart rate rising as he let his rager side take control. Gregor could tell the signal had been given when Enos started a steep decline toward the ground. He got prepared to jump from his back, and when they were eight feet from the ground he jumped. He rolled popping into a fighting stance right next to Ripred.

"Remember" the rat began "worry about the stingers utmost, then the claws and jaws". Gregor tried to log that into his rager calculations, but it had already decided the course of action it would take. Standing side by side they waited for the stingers crest the hill in front of them, the sound of shell on rock would have struck fear into the most seasoned warrior. Time began to run in slow motion, his breathing became calm as he focused completely on the battle at hand. He was acutely aware of all objects that had any path of motion, like Jupiter and Enos circling above them in a holding pattern, waiting for the signal. Ripred lunged toward the first stinger cresting the hill, he sliced of the stinger then, immediately stabbed it through the head grabbing the detached stinger and retreating to the space next to Gregor. He thrust the poisonous barb into his empty hand, Gregor was unsure of what to do at first but then he got the idea. He grasped the base of the two foot long stinger, feeling it's weighting and letting his rager abilities compensate for the awkward feeling. They both rushed the hill at the same time, followed shortly after by the bats. Gregor ignored everything except the stingers and the position of the poisoned barbs on the end of their tails. He sliced through ones head easily twirling, barely dodging claws and jaws of five others that had came to take it's place. He dodged under a claw targeting the open mouth of the one across from him. It brought up it's tail whipping it over it's head toward Gregor, the speed was astounding. He dodged the tail and his sword sunk into the vulnerable flesh. Enos dropped a dead stinger on three of the ones by him killing them instantly. Gregor turned his attention to the last one dispatching it easily. They slowly worked their way through the remaining stingers, hacking, slashing, and dodging. There were three left, these seemed to be seasoned fighter and very well may have been ragers, he dispatched the one it front of him by feinting right, dodging left and driving the blade into one of it's many eyes. Even though they were ragers, they had never before used there abilities. He turned to the one behind him, but it was to late the poisonous splinter was one foot from a chink in his armor, he watched helplessly as it slowly approached. Death was the only possibility, his rager self did not even attempt to block it. At the last second the barb was grabbed with a set of claws and jerked into the air, where Enos then killed it. Enos had just saved his life, he fell to his knees exhausted, they had managed to take out all of there ranks. "Well look who is all bad now, sure when your fighting me you don't try, but when faced with an army of stingers" Ripred came up and patted him on the back "we should find somewhere to rest for a while". There were no complaints, so they set off once again.

Enos was looking for a crevice to hide everyone in. Gregor did not know what to do, how do you thank someone for saving your life? "Uh, thanks for saving me back there, I owe you one" Gregor was happy with that.

Enos looked confused "one what?". Gregor had forgotten that he probably would not know an overland saying like that, even though Ripred had been teaching him a few.

"It basically means that I owe you my life" Gregor watched as Enos tried to comprehend the saying, he wondered what it felt like to be owed a life debt, he owed many life debts to Ripred, but he had never saved anyone's life.

"I appreciate that greatly, but I was just doing my duty to protect you" Enos said, "I believe I found a good crevice". He called to Jupiter and they changed their course, heading for a small cave. They tumbled in and practically collapsed on the floor. All of them except Ripred who had made up his mind.

"I will take first watch, after we eat I'm starved" Ripred went over to the knapsack and opened it. He grabbed a water skin full of shrimp, his favorite and tossed a bunch of fruit to the bats. Then he stepped back allowing Gregor to rummage through the contents. He ended up making a simple sandwich by carving a piece of ham, then placing it on some delicious bread with fresh, crisp lettuce. He ate it quickly, and got out his sleeping bag laying down for a long awaited slumber.

Gregor awoke back at the palace, he walked out onto the balcony and saw a full blown war proceeding by the wall. He ran from his room, wondering why nobody had woken him up. He rapped his scabbard around his waist, and slid his sword into it. Sprinting out the door he saw Ripred and all of his friends standing there blocking his path. "You can't go into the war right now, we are saving you as a last resort" Ripred said holding up a hand, signaling for him to stop.

"Get out of my way, now!" Gregor said feeling his rager side take over.

"We can't, not yet." Vikus said, who was standing behind Ripred. Gregor drew his sword, as a force not under his control made him thrust it through Ripred's heart. Gregor wanted desperately to stop, but he couldn't. He moved on killing Vikus, who was defenseless and turned to Luxa.

She got down on her knees begging for mercy "please Gregor you are better than this". His arm raised into the air his mind was screaming for him to stop this madness, but instead he brought down the blade, it sailed towards Luxa's neck. He was going to kill the one he loved in a fit of rage, and he could do nothing. It was just centimeters from its target when Gregor awoke, in the cave, not the palace.

The dream had seemed so real, he began to wonder if something like that could really happen. Gregor clicked toward the entrance of the cavern, the returning echos showed Ripred's figure sitting in contemplative silence. Gregor got up and walked across the cold stone floor to take a seat next to the rat. "Could I ask you a question?" Gregor asked, checking over his shoulder to make sure that Jupiter, and Enos were still asleep.

"I don't see why not, unless it is help with women, because I don't care much for your private life" Ripred said sarcastically. It made Gregor smile and helped to lighten the mood.

"How did you gain complete control over your rager abilities, because when you fight you seem to be aware of what you are doing. When I fight I have no control over what happens, my rager mode takes hold of my consciousness" Gregor sat silently, watching Ripred formulate his answer. That dream had planted a seed of doubt in his ability to even semi-control his rager self. The other disadvantage to being a rager was, it would look for the best course of action to inflict the most casualties, even if that meant his demise.

"You have to learn to control the urge to protect yourself, while you are your rager self. We could practice this right now if you would like" Ripred said looking at Gregor. He shook his head to signify a yes and followed Ripred deeper into the cave. They stopped when the cavern opened up a little more into a small alcove. "Okay what I am going to do is throw one rock at you, to get you into your rager mode, it is okay to block this one. Then I will throw a second rock and don't even try to block this one" Ripred finished, and set to work finding two good stones. He threw one of the stones, and Gregor let himself enter his subconscious, allowing his rager self to take over. He deflected the small projectile easily, but when Ripred threw the second rock he could not stop himself from dodging it. Then his rager self locked onto the source of the projectiles, and propelled him toward Ripred. Thankfully Ripred was much more skilled than him, and disarmed him with ease.

Gregor finally regained control and looked at Ripred. "I almost killed you" Gregor said horrified, "for throwing a pebble at me".

"Don't worry yourself boy, I can stop you easily, we will work on your skill more later. Let's go wake up the fliers, we should continue our journey" Ripred began to walk back toward the camp, followed by Gregor. The encounter had done nothing for his conscious, as he had hoped it would do. When they returned both fliers were already awake and eating breakfast. Gregor joined them, and watched Ripred's dismay when he realized he had already eaten all of the shrimp. So instead he made a sandwich with Gregor. "Are you guys ready to continue to the spinner lair" Ripred said as soon as they finished.

Jupiter responded, saying "We are both well rested and should be able to fly the remaining distance without rest". They packed up their stuff into the knapsack and got on their fliers. the got into the air, orienting themselves to where the spinners were then took off in that direction. Gregor could only hope when the time came he would be able to control his rager self.

**Remember Gregor would want you to review, and I will probably get a chapter out the day after Halloween. Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**First off I would like to thank The Toast Ninja for reviewing. Secondly I hope you enjoy this chapter, I think is is better than the last one but that is up to you Review.**

Gregor dismounted Enos and stared at the entrance to the cave ahead of them. Not a single spinner had shown its face since they entered their territory. Ripred put his thoughts into words "where is the greeting committee, hello!". Silence was all that could be heard at first, but then they heard something dragging itself across the ground. A medium sized spinner, who was colored pale orange with two red stripes running down its abdomen dragged himself out of the cave. A massive gash was on the right side of his head, and he had began to succumb to some kind of paralyzing poison. They had been attacked by the stingers, Ripred ran up to him "where is the queen?" He asked urgently.

In a raspy low voice he said "Hidden, you...will never...kill heeerrr."

"We are trying to help your queen, not hurt her" Gregor said. The spider tried to lunge at him, but he could not lift his body off the ground. Gregor saw Ripred look down on him with pity. In the distance they heard the patter of feet, stinger feet.

"Quickly get on Enos we have to get out of here" Ripred jumped on Jupiter and they shot toward the ceiling, and out of range of his echolocation. He turned toward Enos and jumped onto him. He went to above the cave and saw a shallow cavern. "Go there" he said pointing.

Enos crouched down with Gregor and said "they probably figured out that they did not succeed in killing the queen" then something dawned on him, "they will kill that spinner, and he is our only...". He fell silent when the patter got to the front of the cavern. He realized what Enos meant, that spinner was there only chance at finding the queen. Gregor held his breath, hoping they would just go away after killing the spinner. Maybe this was just a routine check of their new property.

"You will not..." there was a sickening squash and the spinner went silent. The stingers communicated to each other with a rapid succession of clicks. then continued into the cavern.

He looked over the edge of the shallow cavern they had entered once he was sure all the stingers were inside, but he already knew what he would find there, the spinners body was limp. Now it was a race between them and the stingers searching for the queen. Winner takes all in a way, they had no choice but to win. Gregor wondered if any other underland groups had fallen to the same fate. Ripred came down followed by Gregor, they stared into the mouth of the cave. Enos got them out of their trance, saying "me and Jupiter can not maneuver well in those small caverns, we will stay out here and raise the alarm if the queen attempts to leave, or stinger reinforcements arrive".

"Thank you Enos and Jupiter, we will try to kill all the stingers inside. so if one of them happens to escape don't let it get far" Gregor said then added "fly you high Enos and Jupiter".

"Fly you high Gregor and run like the river Ripred" they echoed, Ripred returned the parting statement and they took off into the air. Gregor entered the cave and almost fell flat on his face, he had forgotten the floor was adhesive in his haste. He found that walking on the tips of his toes worked the best, it would be a strange position to be in while fighting though. The stingers must of been deeper into the cavern, but the cave looked like a horror movie the corpses of hundreds of thousands of spinners covered the floor. Only about one thousand stinger bodies were visible at this point, it had been a massacre, the spinners were well outmatched.

"Well I wonder what part of the cavern the stingers went to search. We should search the entrance first, because would be the least likely place to search for her" Gregor agreed with Ripreds logic and they set off in different directions. Gregor entered a side cavern of the main entrance, it was much smaller and he was freaked out by the number of bodies on the ground. He past into a larger cavern, dead end, he swore under his breath. He heard scuffling behind him, and turned to see a stinger he had previously assumed to be dead get up. They had posted centuries all around the cavern, posing as dead bodies. He had to warn Ripred, because a stinger could easily whip it's tail up and it would be all over. Gregor unsheathed his sword and took his fighting stance, then he jumped at the stinger, or at least tried. He could move but not jump, this downed his ability to dodge immensely. The stinger advanced with lightning speed, Gregor waited till the last second and fell onto his back. The stinger ran over him and he slit it's belly, now it was dead. He got up with some difficulty, and began to make his way back to the entrance to warn Ripred. He made sure to drive his sword into every stinger corpse on the way, thankfully none of the other ones he had passed were alive. He entered the main cavern at the same time as Ripred, they had obviously discovered the same thing "the stingers are faking their death boy, be careful".

Something dawned on Gregor "They would have searched all these passages, it would have to be a well hidden passage". He thought about where a hidden room would be in his surroundings, but he had no idea. "Lets go deeper" Gregor said. It made for slow going having to stab every stinger they saw, but it was definitely worth the effort, they had killed at least a hundred by now. They ran into a larger group of searching stingers and it was a difficult fight, even though there were only about ten. He could not slide and dodging was difficult, thankfully he had the singer as a secondary weapon. He stabbed at one, causing it to dodge the sword, he brought the two foot barb around and stabbed the unsuspecting stinger in the eye. He then ran as best as he could away from the remaining group of four remaining, causing the desired effect, they split into two groups of two, advancing on him. Gregor stopped on a dime, and took a knee sticking his sword out to one side, and the stinger out to the other. The first set of stingers could not stop in time, and he killed one, and almost split the other completely in half. He pulled his sword out and flipped to face the remaining two, just as a tail went down after him. They used his combined force to slowly push him back, there was nothing he could do he was at his peak rager mode, their attacks were just to fast. Maybe to a fault, thought Gregor, he placed one of his weapons to slide by the stinger and the other to block. It worked beautifully, as the poisonous barb sunk into the tail of the spinner. It stared at him in shock, then with a shudder fell limp, four down one to go. The last stinger seemed to fight with renewed vigor, Gregor was having trouble keeping up. This stinger outmatched him completely, he would have to hold out until Ripred could come to his aid. He parried so many attacks that he was beginning to tire, the stingers claw met the flesh on his leg, blood began to trickle out of the wound. He was barely able to ignore the pain shooting up his leg. Just when he was literally considering giving up Ripred appeared behind the stinger, and drove his claw through it's tough exoskeleton killing it instantly. Gregor exhausted, leaned against the wall to examine his wounds. Instead of solid wall like he had expected, empty space greeted him as he broke through the thin webs. He tumbled into a large cavern, whose floors were stickier than the first, making moving to slow for fighting.

Ripred came through the hole in the wall "Well done Sherlock", he offered Gregor a hand. He took it, got up, and looked around the room. Where is the queen he thought, there was not much space in the cavern. He looked up and saw what he would of originally thought to be wind blowing through the webs, but on closer examination it was in the shape of a spider.

He turned to Ripred and whispered "she is camouflaged directly above us, what should our course of action be?". Ripred pretended to be nonchalantly looking over the walls of the cavern, his eyes stayed on the spot where the queen was for only a millisecond. He looked at Gregor and motioned with his eyes for him to walk across the cavern. Gregor thought he sort of understood the plan, they would divide her attention. Gregor would create a distraction, when she looked at him Ripred would get her out of the hiding spot somehow. He had no idea what was going on in the rats mind past that. What could he do for a distraction, he did not want to make any loud noises that would attract stingers wondering in the other caves. Then he came up with a brilliant idea, he began dancing, well 'dancing'. It was definitely distracting, Ripred had trouble peeling his eyes from him, he snickered and performed a high jump. He grabbed onto her abdomen before she could react and ripped her from the ceiling. She tried to attack him and he had to let go and jump back to avoid the fangs. Gregor rushed forward and jumped onto her, throwing her off balance. Ripred rushed on the opportunity and got her into a position where she could not bite them.

"Give me some of the rope we bought" Ripred commanded. Gregor realized they had left their knapsack with Enos and Jupiter.

"I have to go get the rope" without further explanation Gregor began his dash through the twisted labyrinth toward the entrance. every time he stepped he could still feel the wound, he would grab some bandages and wrap that before he returned. He turned the final corner before the end of the cave to find two-hundred stingers turned toward the entrance. When he skid to a halt they all turned toward him, an evil glare in their eyes, he was far outnumbered. He drew his sword and prepared for the fight, he would go out with a bang, not a whimper. He began to hack through one after another killing them all easily, but as he approached the front of the group the fighters became more skilled. If he could just make it outside he and Enos would stand a chance working together. He spun his rager side attempting to take the most enemies with him. He began to move away from the exit "NO!" he screamed in his mind. He returned to fighting the easier enemy, the progress he had made toward the front had been in vain. He was getting more exhausted by the second, getting that much closer to not being able to dodge the attacks thrown at him. He summoned the last bit of his will power, and was able to control his mouth long enough to yell out "Enos!". His defenses were lowered by the effort and a stinger got it's tail in, just far enough to pierce the skin. The poison stung like nothing he had felt before, his vision was becoming more blurry by the second, more and more attacks were getting through his defenses. He began to accumulate quite a collection of nicks, then deeper wounds. Suddenly he was lifted into the air, he lost the struggle to remain conscious, and fell limp in what he thought to be Enos's claws.

**Thank you for reading, and remember to review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I would like to thank my three reviewers ironicbear32, Colin, and The Toast Ninja. Enjoy the chapter, it is a little longer than previous ones.**

Gregor peeled open his eyes with great difficulty, and bright light flooded his vision. He quickly shut his eyes, he couldn't move the rest of his body he realized suddenly. He began to panic as though he was in a tight space, his breathing became irregular as he struggled in vain to control his limbs. Howard walked in and came to the side of the bed. "You are okay" he said comfortingly, placing a hand on his head softly "The stinger poison paralyzed you, but on the bright side it should only take two more days for you to recover fully". Gregor wanted to respond but his mouth would not work, he was surprised his eyes did. Ripred came walking in with a huge bandage covering his side, Gregor's eyes opened wide in surprise.

Ripred came by the bead "well look who is finally awake" He shook his head and looked back at Gregor "how did you kill one hundred ninety-nine of the stingers". Gregor let that sink in, he had somehow managed to kill all except for one of the stingers, even in the difficult fighting conditions in the spinner lair. He directed his eyes back at the bandage on the rats side, asking the question of how he got it. Ripred followed his path of vision then answered "queen Wevox decided it would be a brilliant idea to get one of her legs loose and slashed my stomach. We have her in the palace dungeon awaiting questioning. You should get some rest but first someone else wanted to see you.". His immediate thought was Luxa, but to his surprise Enos shuffled in. Gregor's eyes lit up with joy.

The bat smiled to see Gregor alive "I was so worried that I had come to late, and that they would not be able to save you. I killed the last stinger for you, so the entire army was wiped out. You should get some sleep.". Gregor thought to himself that Enos was the best choice he could of made for a friend. He had now saved his life twice, he was someone you could trust to watch your back.

Enos turned and left, then Ripred once again took the spot "Luxa wanted to come see you, but she could not get out of her council meeting.". Howard came up beside the bed and placed a pill in Gregors mouth, which he managed to swallow with some difficulty. He felt drowsy, and nodded off into a troubled slumber.

* * *

Gregor woke up, and looked around the empty hospital room. He could feel his appendages once again, he must of slept for two days. He sat up, and pain rushed through his body, he fell back on the bed groaning. Howard came in and looked at him "Why do I feel so sore if i am cured" Gregor asked. Howard smiled at him "you've been lying like that for seven days now, we can start rehabilitation now that the poison is gone. You are definitely lucky though, if you had gotten a much larger dose from the stinger we would not have been able to save you". Howard began helping him sit up slowly, despite the pain he felt. It took forever, but he was eventually in a sitting position, then Howard had him lay back down and try it again. The second time the pain was stand-able, but definitely not gone. Luxa came into the room, a huge smile lit her face when she saw Gregor. Gregor had forgotten how much he missed her, it must of been horrible to not know if the one you loved would survive. "I will leave you two alone" Howard said, giving Gregor one glance before he left that said "don't make me regret this". Gregor silently thanked him for trusting him.

Luxa ran over and rapped her arms around him, causing him pain. He flinched a little, and she moved away confused. He explained "my muscles are sore from disuse". She kissed him on the forehead and took a seat next to him.

"Tell me about your journey" he could tell that she was trying to get his mind off of the pain. He started from the beginning, he explained the battle with the stinger patrol, how his rager side was difficult to control, he left out his disturbing dream. He told her about training with Ripred, the spinner who was mercilessly killed by the stingers, the fact that the queen was the last remaining spinner in the underland. He told her about the battle with the small patrol, falling through the wall, and falling and finding the queen. finally he recounted the horrific battle, and how Enos once again saved him. "That can't be, how can all the spinners be wiped out. We now have one less ally to call upon in this battle" disbelief was obvious on her face "I will have to inform the council of this unfortunate development". She kissed him goodbye, and headed for the door.

"Wait" Gregor cried out "could you ask Enos to come here, I would like to thank him". Luxa shook her head up and down in response, then she left. He laid back down on his bed, exhausted by the effort to stay sitting for so long. He suddenly realized that he was extremely hungry, Enos came into the room and stopped by Gregor's bed. "Hi Enos, I was wondering if you wanted to join me for breakfast" He asked.

The bat made a "huh, huh, huh" sound "It is almost night time overlander, so it is dinner not breakfast. I would like to join you though, are you feeling any better".

"I can't complain, it could definitely of been worse. I also wanted to say thanks for coming to my aid in the spinner's cave. With that mission we killed two birds with one stone" Gregor laughed at the notion. He could tell that Enos did not get what the saying was about and was giving Gregor a questioning look. This caused him to laugh even harder, causing pain to rush through his entire body. He eventually calmed back down, he realized he must seem crazy "Sorry about that, I must be slap-happy from sleeping to much. I meant that we were able to take out a lot of stingers, and get the queen with one mission. Howard could you please get me and Enos something to eat.".

Howard had just walked back in, and responded "sure I will be right back with some food".

Enos seemed to be thinking quietly "did I ever tell you about me and Ares adventures as children?".

"I don't seem to recall you telling me any, I would like to hear one though" Gregor wanted desperately to know more about Ares, he had never told him that much about himself, especially when he was younger.

Enos began his story

* * *

"This is the story of the first time I met Ares, It happened approximately twelve years ago. We were both young fliers, and just learning how to maneuver in flight. We went to the same flight class, which also taught us fighting. I was what you might call the nerd of the class, people would make jokes about my fur. Ares on the other hand was someone you would call the 'class clown' I learned that overland saying from Ripred as well. One day I was heading for school, while avoiding the main paths taken by the much stronger bats. That is when Ares saddled up next to me, seeming he was at the top of his class in strength, i assumed he was there to bully me. "Where ya headed" He said swerving to and fro in the air around me. I didn't answer at first and began to fly faster avoiding eye contact. Annoyed he swerved in front of me "hey I was talking to you".

"School" he muttered under his breath. Ares began to laugh, then he started to hover right in front of him, forcing him to stop and hover as well.

"Ha, you will never truly learn fighting in school you have to experience it" I watched Ares spy somthing on the ground, then he continued "we are going to kill a rat, and I need someone to come with me. If you want to be known as cool, this is your only chance."

I did want everyone at the school to think of me as impressive, so I said riding an impulse "yes I want to go with you". A feeling in my gut told me I would regret it later.

"Great, follow me I saw a small rat scamper into a cave a while back" ares shot off like a ullet, and I had trouble keeping up with him as we made are way back towards the cave. When we got just outside, he pulled up short. I ran into him, causing him to almost fall out of the sky. "Be careful" he said scornfully. I didn't respond, I was still recovering from the fly, I panted while we hovered there.

Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I asked "what are we waiting for?".

Originally all I got was a hurried "shhh" then considering I would probably ask again, he added "we are waiting for the rat to come out, then I will give the signal.". We sat there for a while longer, when suddenly a small nose poked it's way out of the cave. It sniffed the air for a while before emerging. When it did however, Ares yelled "go". He rushed the young rat, fear showed in his eyes, and he darted back into the cave. I realized that was the signal and followed suit. We charged ibto the cave, laughing as Ares got closer to taking it down with each strike. We rounded a curve and it was stuck at a dead end, I looked into the rats eye's and realized he was completely defenseless.

Ares began to move forward preparing for the final blow, but before he got close I put my claw on his back "Maybe we shouldn't do this, I mean it is only a baby gnawer". Ares stopped in his tracks, he seemed to be playing the idea over in his mind. I would of had a guilty conscience if I had just allowed him to do that.

He sighed "fine lets go, we can probably make it to school before class starts." They turned around, and almost had a heart attack. Standing behind them were a male and female rat, and from the looks of it they weren't very happy. I gulped and took a step back, the mother came rushing by us.

"Are you okay" she said scooping him up and rocking him back and forth.

"They were going to kill me" he said pointing at Ares and myself. The father gave us a death glare, grabbing us by our wings.

"King Gorger will like to hear this, it I'd not every day we get to execute two fliers" with that he began to make his way towards gnawer territory. Me and Ares struggled to free ourselves, but it was to no avail the rat's grip was to strong. We reached the entrance to their fortress of caverns, and the one guard stopped him.

"What is the meaning of bringing two fliers here?" The rat looked at the father skeptically.

The father looked like he was about to slap the guard across the face, but he used his better judgement and responded saying "these two fliers were involved in the attempted murder on my son". We both stayed silent, too scared to try and defend ourselves.

"Come with me, I think king Gorger would be happy to hear about this" with that he turned and began down the passage, with our captor following shortly behind. A green mist seemed to rise up from the floor, and the smell was terrible like rotten eggs. We found ourselves in a room containing at least two dozen rats, and one who appeared to be their ruler. The guard bent down on one knee "my leige, I bring you a messenger, bearing two fliers".

King Gorger looked amusingly at there captor and asked "well how did you manage that?" He looked at the two fliers in his fists, "they are only children!" Rage seemedn to emanate from him, he had expected grown fliers. Then regaining his composure he said "nevertheless they will suffer the same punishment, Splittail bind their wings". A huge and rather ugly rat came forward holding a long piece of twine. He grabbed hold of Ares first, tying his wings to his sides.

When Ares began to struggle to much he yelled "enough!" and cuffed him in the head with his fist. Ares called out in pain, it made my heart drop. When he finished he came over and proceeded to tie me up as well. When he finished they led us to the side of a massive cliff, the floor of it was covered in sharp rocks.

"You may not know this Gorger began, but in battle your spieces drops our to our deaths" he paused clearing his throat, "we will now do the same to you". My mind was racing, I had to find us a way out of this. The only reason he would not kill us was if we were indispensable, but we had nothing to offer them.

A brilliant idea struck me and I said "wait". I was almost as surprised as everyone else thst I was able to speak "you can't kill me and Ares".

"Oh, I assure you I can" he said, making a motion with his finger as though it were a knife across his neck.

The rat behind me began to push him towards the crevice. "You can't kill me because I know of an attack that will happen soon, and so does Ares" Ares eye's screamed, what are you doing, I winked at him and then focused my attention on Gorger.

"Your fibbing" he said eyeing me doubtfully.

"Do I look like the kind of person who would lie?" He asked rhetorically. Gorger scowled at his confidence but did not respond, so I continued "but if I am going to tell you this I want to be untied, along with my friend". No sooner did he finish saying it than Gorger was right in front of him, he had already slit both of the ropes holding them.

He then held his head by my ear and whispered "if this is a joke I will be on you in a second, don't even think you can get away". Shivering he nodded and walked over next to Ares.

"I need to talk with him alone, could you guys take a few steps back?" They did not react until Gorger motioned with is hand. He was far overconfident, and I was able to use that to our advantage. We turned toward the cliff and I raised a wing placing it on his back to block the ound of us speaking "listen carefully, I am going to grab your foot with mine, then I will push you off the cliff. This will pull me off as well, as soon as we are airborne we make are way to the exit understand?" Ares nodded and grabbed hold of one of my feet, I whispered "three...two...one..." and I pushed him.

"No" Gorger screamed in anger, he had been duped. He jumped to intercept my take off, and he would have got me if I had not been holding onto Ares. I slipped off the edge of the cliff just as his claw met the dirt. I righted myself and we made our way toward exit. A mad scramble insued as the rats attempted to beat us to the door. We dodged through, just before the first rat reached it we made it through, hearing the muffled sound of Gorger yelling "I will get you, nowhere you go is sa..." and with that they were out of ear range.

Once out of the cave, they made there way to a small out cropping in the wall. They sat there panting for a while, the Ares said "thanks for saving me back there, chasing that rat was a really bad idea". I tried to lighten the mood "it was fun though". We both laughed, happy to just be together.

* * *

Gregor responded surprised "that was an amazing story". Howard came in and gave them their food, leaving immediately after. Before he was gone they both said "thank you". "I'm glad I get to hang out with you while i am here". With that they proceeded to eat, content to be together.

**Thanks for reading remember to review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I would like to thank The Overlander11, The Toast Ninja, Regina, and Jon for their insightful reviews. Thanks to them I did not do one more chapter of plot set up, but was able to put in a decent amount of Gluxa. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and remember if you see any other problems, review or PM me i appreciate it.**

Enos left Gregor, and only two more visitors came that day, Howard and Ripred. Ripred came to inform him that they would be interrogating queen Wevox the next day in front of the council. After he left, Howard entered to give him some more physical therapy, enough to allow him to walk. It took many tries before Gregor could walk without collapsing from pain, but he still cringed with every step. After what seemed like an eternity Howard finally decided they were done for the day. He left after dimming the torches, he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. He heard a sound and woke with a start, he had not been sleeping for that long. It is probably just Howard he thought, Gregor pulled the sheet tighter around himself. He then heard a small, sweet voice, and a smile spread across his face "Gregor are you awake?".

"Yes, I am awake" he said sitting up, then he added "Shouldn't you be getting some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow, and you can't afford to miss out on rest".

She sat on the side of his bed an awkward silence ensued for some time, then she got up the courage to ask what she had came for "I couldn't sleep, because I couldn't stop thinking of you. I was wondering if you would come to keep me company, just until I fall asleep".

Gregor was conflicted, his initial impulse told him to answer yes. He then thought about how Howard had just began to trust him and Luxa together, but he could not stand to leave her alone, especially if she needed him. He thought to himself don't hate me for this Howard then he answered "yes I could do that". Luxa helped him to his feet and began to lead him back to her room, his hand was intertwined within hers. The hallways were surprisingly empty "where is everyone" he asked her.

"She considered the best way to answer his question "I sent the guards away, because we would not need any protection". He saw straight through the lie, she had sent them away so that Howard had no witnesses. He chuckled and continued to follow her, until they stood before her door. He heard the sound of boots on the floor around the corner. She pulled open the door, shoved Gregor in and slammed it shut. From the other side he could hear a familiar voice.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping" Howard asked skeptically. Why was he still up, and would he have came to her room to check if he had been there.

"I was just heading to the dining hall, why do you ask" Luxa asked, the picture of innocence.

"I could not find Gregor anywhere and i thought you might know where he is..." they began to walk down the hall out of earshot, Howard had been watching him a lot closer than he had originally thought that he would. He looked around the large room, and saw the bathroom. He must of smelled horrible, he headed over to the bath and undressed, slowly letting himself sink into the wonderful smelling water. He sat there contemplating his conversation with Enos, he had known Ares had always been a rule breaker. He did not know however that he would be willing to kill a baby rat, he sighed and thought this is what the war did to minds. Different species became monsters in each others eyes. He got out and dressed, then went and sat on the couch in front of a octagonal board. It seemed like a four player version of chess, he felt one of the smooth pieces and began to wonder how long it would take for Luxa to return. Just as he was considering returning to the infirmary to ease Howard's mind, he heard voices in the hall. "I will see you tomorrow, goodnight" Howard said.

"Goodnight" then Luxa opened the door and closed it gently closed it. She turned, and Gregor was entranced as her beautiful silver hair as it fell to rest on her shoulders. Her deep violet eyes were stunning, she came over and sat next to him. She wrapped both of her arms around him, and planted a kiss directly on his lips. They stayed locked in a kiss, Gregor's hand slid down to her hips then lower. They got up, never stopping moving toward the bed, they got in bed. Things seemed inevitable, but Gregor's conscience stopped him.

He pulled away "I can't" she looked at him confused "I promised Howard not until we were married, and I have to hold myself to that promise".

Luxa said "I understand", and they just layed there together holding each other, until sleep overtook both of them.

* * *

Gregor awoke with Luxa in his arms, he did not want to wake her up so he continued to lay there. He realized something, that was the first night that he had not had a nightmare. He stared at her face, memorizing every feature from her hair to her chin. After a while she began to stir, and her eyes opened. She smiled and in a sleepy voice uttered a "good morning".

He kissed her forehead then said "Good morning, did you sleep well?". Sadly his mind was already wondering to all of the tasks he had lined up for that day, at least he could do the first two with Luxa.

"I slept well, you should probably leave now before Howard decides to check in here for you" Luxa kissed him, then she disentangled herself from him, heading toward the bathroom. Gregor got up and headed over to the door to the hallway, and pressed his ear against it. There was complete silence on the other side so he opened the door, letting it close slowly behind him. Then he realized something, he would need a believable story to tell Howard about where he had been last night. Who would help him lie, he thought through several different people. He narrowed that list down to three, Ripred, Enos, and Aurora. He thought a little harder and threw out Ripred, he would make fun of him, then he would tell Howard without a doubt. So it was between Enos and Aurora, while she may have been trustworthy her love for Luxa may get in the way, that left only one suitable candidate Enos. He began to traverse the halls searching for the bat. As luck would have it Enos had been doing the exact same thing. They both turned a corner a little to fast, and ran into each other. It didn't effect Enos that much, but Gregor went flying backwards landing on his rear.

"Sorry Gregor, I should have been more careful" He offered him a claw to help him up. He took it and got up.

"It wasn't your fault, I should be the one saying sorry. Could I ask you a huge favor" Gregor stared hopefully at Enos.

"Sure, in fact I was coming to ask you about the same thing" Enos waited patiently to hear his request.

He breathed in deep, not believing that he was going to disclose this kind of information to Enos. Sure he trusted the flier, but he had not known him for that long "I was with Luxa last night, and Howard was searching for me, I was wondering if you could tell him that we were together in your cave.".

A smile spread across his face and he began laughing, when he stopped he explained "I was coming to ask you the same thing, I was with Aurora last night. We have been in love for some time, and I was wondering if you could witness for me if Jupiter asks. We would have to say we were somewhere other than my cave however, that is where Jupiter was looking for me at". Gregor could see why Aurora had chosen Enos, he was funny and extremely smart and agile. They tossed around a few ideas before Enos burst out with "the fount, it is perfect, you can say that you needed to talk to someone there, and you asked me to fly you".

Gregor thought about it, it was the perfect cover-up "if he asks who I could probably say York". It was perfect, Gregor glanced down at his watch "we will have to go eat now if we do not want to miss the interrogation". Without another word, Enos leaned down to allow him to climb on. Once he was on the sped to the dining hall, suffocating torches along the way. They both quickly ate their meals, then made there way to the council chamber. Enos entered and went to take a seat by Aurora, as soon as he entered however, he could feel a death stare emanating from Howard. Thankfully Gregor new this was a good sign, it would have been quite a different reaction if he had figured it out. He took a seat next to Luxa and whispered "good morning" he wrapped her fingers with hers, and the proceedings started.

"Order...Order!" Vikus yelled over the din of voices, it slowly became silent. In the center of the platform, they had tied down queen Wevox by each one of her eight legs. "We shall commence this hearing of queen Wevox. The first question is, where is the hidden gold.". Gregor could not believe they expected this to work, he looked over at Ripred, who met his eyes and mirrored his feelings.

* * *

After another hour of questioning, Wevox had not uttered a single phrase. Gregor was becoming quite fed up with it, he slowly made his way over to Ripred. "We could break her in under five seconds, could we tell all the council to leave?".

Ripred nodded and turned yelling "Everyone out!". Many of the council members sprinted out in fear, but others questioned if they should follow his orders. He picked them up and threw them out, when he came to Enos, Luxa , and Vikus he respectfully said "I need you guys to leave, this can only involve me and Gregor". Still shocked they did not say a word, but left immediately. He turned back towards Gregor "so, what did you have in mind". Gregor walked close to queen Wevox, analyzing what would cause the most pain, with minimal damage.

He came to a consensus "Her legs are her weak point". He drew his sword and dragged it on the ground, making a deafening sound. He got up right next to her and in a menacing, yet steady tone he said "wouldn't it be a shame to lose one or more of you legs". With that he brought the sword up and chopped of the last segment of one of her legs. She made a gurgling sound, and fell to the floor "my question is simple, where is this hidden gold?" Still there was no response "fine" he cleanly sliced off the next segment, causing a green liquid to ooze out. She did not answer, so he raised his sword to take off one more segment.

"Wait" Wevox said, stopping Gregor mid swing "I will tell you where the gold is, we had a vault at the back of our lair. It was filled with every type of jewl and precious medal you could imagine. however that is not where it is, because the stingers came and took it all back to their main lair". Gregor felt like he was about to throw up, it would be near impossible to get into and out of the stingers land alive "I am not lying to you overlander". He looked at Ripred and red his thoughts, time for a quest.

Gregor burst through the heavy closed doors of the council room, leaving behind the hurting Wevox. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, so he said "Who is up for an adventure?".

**Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I would like to thank the following people for their reviews, The Toast Ninja, Colin, Regina, ironicbear32, and Guest. I would like to give a special thanks to illusion95, this review helped me to improve my writing. Please enjoy this chapter.**

As it turned out, only six other people besides himself and Ripred were willing to join the quest. Both Enos and Jupiter said that they wanted to accompany us immediately. Luxa volunteered along with her bond Aurora, shortly after followed by Howard and Nike. Gregor could tell that the only reason Howard wanted to come, was to keep an eye on him and Luxa. He thought about queen Wevox, and how his rager side allowed him to torture her without any hesitation. He shuttered at the thought, he lifted his head to see Jupiter flirting with Aurora. He was telling a bad joke "What did one flier say to another?".

Aurora answered in an annoyed voice "I don't know, what did one flier say to another".

"Let's 'hang' around together!" Jupiter began laughing at his own joke, while Aurora just shook her head. That joke was really bad, and plus where is Enos right now. He scanned the room and found him, his eyes locked on Jupiter. To the normal eye, it would have looked like he was nonchalantly observing the scene. Since Gregor knew Enos's feelings for Aurora he could see that he was not only worried, but barely keeping himself from strangling Jupiter. Gregor felt sorry for the bat, but he did not understand why he did not want their love to be public.

Gregor scanned the room for Luxa, she was laughing, and speaking with Mareth. He walked over, but before he could reach him, Mareth was gone. Man he needed to speak with him about the condition of his armor, because all of it was at least dented, some of it had gaping holes in vital places. He sidled up next to Luxa, he grabbed her hand and thought about her coming on the quest. "I don't want you to get hurt Luxa, maybe you should stay here with Mareth, and help in the war effort" Gregor finished, scanning her face far a sign of a reaction.

She answered "And who else would you take? My swordplay skills are far above that of any other regalian, you will need my help to successfully complete this mission". Gregor realized there was no denying her the right to come. Howard came up beside them before Gregor could respond to Luxa's remark.

"Could we talk" he said motioning to a small room off to their right.

"Sure" Gregor said, letting go of one of Luxa's hands. She kissed him on the cheek to say good luck, then she let her touch linger, until they were both at arms length, then she released her hold. She walked off in the direction of her bond and Gregor turned to see that Howard had already made his way to the small room. He swallowed, and prepared himself for the interrogation. He made his way to the room, and no sooner did he cross the threshold, than the door was closed by Howard. Gregor looked around the room, it looked like a small storage closet. The stone walls were chipping slightly, and there was a small window towards the back. The only lighting in the room came from the window, so it was difficult to see. Howard seemed to be figuring out how to ask his question without sounding offensive.

Then he stated "Where were you last night, I could not find you anywhere" Howard waited patiently for his answer. Gregor thought through his planned response, he was not sure he could bring himself to lie to Howard's face. He had trusted him with Luxa, and he had in a way broken his promise. He hoped he looked a lot more confident than he felt. He took a deep breath, and in a steady voice said "I had to go speak with someone at the fount, so Enos flew me there. He can back my story if you need more proof".Gregor watched Howard's resolve melt away, and relief come over his features.

He patted Gregor on the back, in a brotherly way and said "I knew I could trust you". He opened the door and left without another word, he seemed to believe him completely. Gregor could not believe he had just done that, it made him feel worse than if Howard had actually figured out the truth. He exited the room to find an empty hall, everyone must of gone to lunch. If he was right Ripred probably had already packed for the trip. He slowly walked towards the dining hall, deep in thought on what he should take on the trip, and if he should tell Howard the truth. As luck would have it he ran into Mareth again.

"Overlander" he said, brandishing a wight canvas sack with the symbol of the fount on it "I made some adjustments to your armor".

Gregor smiled and responded "I was just coming to talk to you about that" you know after lunch, but it was better to get this out of the way now. Mareth set the sac on the ground and rummaged through it until he found a piece of shin armor. On the front was a design that appeared to be a dagger that was cut in half, from one side of the hand guard to the other. The blade of the design was more of a gunmetal, than the jet black metal the rest of the armor was made from.

"Watch this" Mareth said excitedly, he pressed a raised part on the hilt of the dagger. There was a mechanical sound, like gears turning and the blade popped out of the front of the plate. He offered Gregor the hilt, and he grabbed it. It was perfectly balanced, he took a few swipes with it. "There is another one hidden the same way in the other shin plate, if you happen to lose your sword in battle".

"This is amazing Mareth, thank you" Gregor looked over the weapon one more time, he could see no imperfections in the blade. He slid the dagger back into place and pushed it down, there was the same mechanical sound and the button popped back up. The dagger being profile kept it from cutting anything while put away.

Mareth was blushing at his compliment "It was nothing really, I wish I could have joined your quest, but sadly they need me here if the stingers decide to attack. Fly you high Gregor the overlander".

"Fly you high Mareth" Gregor responded. With that Mareth handed him the bag of armor and moved down the hall and around the corner. He resumed his journey to the dining hall, thinking of how much of an advantage these weapons would give him. When he reached his destination, only Luxa was still there. He walked over to the cabinets, overflowing with every type of food you could imagine. He grabbed some meat that resembled both ham in shape, and jerky in color. He grabbed a few fresh vegetables, and placed them in a bowl to make a salad. He walked over and took a seat next to Luxa. He was eager to start up a conversation "so, you never got to tell me what you did while I was in the overland".

Luxa looked thoughtfully at him "to tell the truth I thought you were going to attempt to convince me to not go on the journey. I haven't really done a lot.". She told him about how Hazard was doing. she told him about the hundreds of meetings she had had, and how the council refused to cooperate with her. She talked about how Ripred was the only person she really felt confident about confiding in. She told him about how much she had missed him. Although her story was not as long it was filled with equal feeling. When she finished, he grabbed her hands and pulled her in far a kiss.

"Well there you are lovebirds" Ripred snickered. The pulled apart, both their cheeks glowing bright red. "We will need to depart soon" he continued in a more serious tone.

"I should probably go and pack" Luxa said giving him one more kiss and exiting the room.

"Ripred" Gregor whined "do you always have to do that?".

Ripred raised his hands in mock defense "I state the facts, and you draw the conclusions". With that the rat left the room, leaving Gregor completely alone. Gregor ate his food quickly, and followed it with a glass of water. He got up and cleared the table of both his and Luxa's dishes. Then he made his way to the room they had given him upon his arrival to the underland. He opened the door, walked in, shut it, and went to sit on the couch. He began to form a mental list of what he would need. He had his armor, he would need a few pairs of clothing, and he would need his bed roll. He got up and walked into the private bathroom, on the shelves there were many pairs of the type and size of clothing he was wearing. He grabbed five pairs and went back to the couch. He set them on the table, and leaned down to empty his armour out of the canvas bag. He put it on, starting with his feet, and working his way up to his helmet saving his gauntlets till he had finished his other armor. He could not help but think why am I fighting, why did he enter war after war, just for another one to start. Gregor heard a knock on the door, he decided he would finish that thought later. He quickly finished clamping on his gauntlet and said "come in".

Enos pushed open the door "greetings Gregor are you ready to go?". Gregor took one more look around the room, making sure he had all of his supplies.

He picked up the bag at his feet and shouldered it, it was somewhat like a backpack with only one compartment "let's go". Enos rotated clockwise, until his wing was almost at ground level. They flew out through the huge walk out balcony. They headed towards the great hall where they would depart. Gregor stared down at the bustle in the streets below, he did not know how they could be so oblivious to the danger at hand. Then he realized, this is why he went to war, to protect these families from the fury of battle and violence.

As they neared the great hall, Enos remembered something "oh, I forgot to tell you that there was too much food for us to carry, so one more flier will be accompanying us to carry the supplies. Her name is Luna, she is a good friend of Jupiter". They touched down and Gregor could not take his eyes off the bat waiting there. She had beautiful, shiny, and intelligent jet black eyes. The fur on her back was a silvery-blue that gleamed in the torchlight, like sunlight refracts off of mist. On her right wing there was a white mark that loosely resembled a crescent moon. The hair covering her stomach was a pure white, and her muscles were lean enough that you would not think she was very strong.

"Wow" said Gregor, they were definantly strange colors for an underland bat.

She seemed to be absorbed in thought, and had not noticed them land. Enos whispered in his ear "she thinks that she is irresistible, but there is something not right with her. Whenever I am around her I feel like there is some secret she is keeping". Gregor looked at her eyes another time, this time he looked past the skin deep beauty. There was a gleam in her eye, as though she knew something that no one else did, there was something else also an evil glint that was barely visible. When she finally saw him joy replaced the previous emotions in her eyes.

"Overlander" she said in a high, squeaky voice, it was the type of voice that grated on your nerves. "I am excited to work with you, I am like the fastest flier in the underland". Gregor barely kept himself from blurting out that there was no way she was faster with Enos.

Instead he said "I look forward to working with you as well". The remaining group members flew up to the platform.

Ripred climbed on to Jupiter's back and said "let's move out". And with those words the journey began.

**Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am so sorry for the long wait, I have had so much homework in English and Rhetoric. I would like to thank Regina, illusion95, ironicbear32, Jon, and Guest for their reviews. I wrote five different versions before coming up with this one. I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

Gregor laid on his back staring into the pitch black sky above him. He entertained himself by clicking at the ceiling, in order to get a clear view of its layout. Two and a half hours of the journey had already elapsed, and they would be arriving in about thirty minutes. Gregor placed his hands behind him, and used them to lift his body into a sitting position. He was tired of the tense silence that had fallen over the group, ever since their departure. He could feel the foreboding of the challenge ahead of them, it would not be a walk in the park to invade a stinger base. His mind began to wonder, he was stumped as to what could be behind that door. It was put there by Sandwich though, so the most likely explanation was that it was a bunch more prophecies. The more he thought about it though, the less it made sense, why would he have hidden these prophecies, but not the others. Only one thing was for sure, it would be a mystery until they got a hold of this key. He looked to the side to see Ripred approaching on Jupiter. They saddled up next to them and Ripred yelled over the wind, just loud enough for Gregor to hear "YOU SHOULD GO TALK WITH LUXA, IT WOULD PROBABLY CALM BOTH OF YOUR NERVES".

Gregor thought over it, it was kind of a random statement for Ripred, but it seemed to make reasonable sense. He realized it would help to chase away his boredom, so he replied "OKAY I WILL". He watched them fly away then bent over so that Enos could hear him. "Enos, could you fly over and drop me off so I can talk to Luxa" Gregor asked politely, he did not have to wait long for a response.

In a similar tone Enos purred "yes, it will allow me to speak with Aurora". He tilted his wings, causing the air to push them towards Luxa. They came up beside her, and Enos and Aurora struck up a conversation. Luxa looked over and gave him a smile that made him melt like butter.

"Permission to board" he asked, blushing, a grin plastered on his face. It was an overland reference she would probably not understand.

Luxa scooted forwards and patted Auroras golden fur behind her "permission granted". Gregor stood up on Enos's back, knees bent, and prepared himself to jump. He shifted his feet to a better take off position, feeling the air rush around him, calculating exactly which direction to jump. He extended his legs and was flying through the air, he cleared the ten feet between the bats with ease, and almost more. He landed and Luxa shot out a hand to keep him from falling off the other side. Gregor was breathibg heavily, even though he knew Enos would have come to catch him, falling was a frightining propositon. "You have to be more careful" she said playfully, with a twinkle in her eye.

"I will try, if it will make you happy" this made Luxa blush uncontrollably. Gregor caught movement out of the corner of his eye, it was Ripred, he had flown up next to them, and was talking with Aurora. It was strange that he had waited until Luxa was distracted, he noted that Enos had not gotten to talk with her for very long. He turned his attention back to Luxa, he was holding her delicate hands. He stared into her eyes, and there lips started to come closer, and closer.

Gregor closed his eyes, only millimeters separated them when someone said "AHEM". Gregor's eyes shot open and he saw Howard, arms crossed seated on Nike. He raised an eyebrow in a questioning fashion looking from Gregor to Luxa, then back. They pulled away awkwardly from each other, Gregor did not know what to say, Howard was clearly waiting for an explanation. Gregor could only imagine what his response to them sleeping together would be, if he was this serious about them almost kissing.

Thankfully he never had to explain "everyone, land over in that cavern". Gregor thanked him silently, and aurora steered herself towards the entrance. They landed gracefully and the party dismounted. Ripred motioned for all of them to gather around, he had inscribed a large circle in the dirt. Everyone gathered, and Ripred began to draw a rough sketch of the fortress they would be attacking. In Gregor's estimation he could have been an artist, the sketch was rather impressive. He drew an X, G, E, J, H, and T in the dirt, "I am the X, Gregor is the G, Enos the E, Jupiter the J, Howard the H, and finally T stands for the enemies.

Jupiter raised his wing "can I be a square instead".

Enos chimed in "and can I be the X, it is my favorite letter".

Ripred stared at them in disbelief for a moment, then answered "no, why would you even ask that? I draw the map, I choose the letters capeesh". Enos opened his mouth, raising his right wing. Then he let his wing fall as he reconsidered the statement he was about to make, Gregor could tell that he was about to ask if he could draw the map, and therefore decide the letters. It was going to be a joke, but considering the gravity of their situation Enos had decided to abstain. An awkward silence fell over the room, Ripred looked around "good, so first off Enos and Jupiter will create a diversion and distract most of the guards". He drew an arrow from the E and J towards the front of the base, then away. He then made arrows for a majority of the T's in the front of the fortress and made them follow the E and J. He then pointed at Gregor and said "at this point when they are out of earshot, you will come forward and kill the remaining guards". The G came over, and Ripred put a line through the two T's he had left in front of the door. Gregor shook his head to symbolize that he understood and Ripred continued "me and Howard will come in after you to take out the remaining stingers. Howard has an antidote to the stinger poison, if you get scratched he can stop it from spreading long enough for us to get you back to Regalia. but if you get a dead on blow this will not even help you". He drew a line from the X and H to the enemy base's entrance.

Luna seemed to be carefully thinking over the plan he had proposed "how can I help".

Ripred drew an L outside of the circle "you will stay here and guard the supplies" he tapped the letters position a couple of times. Luna's shoulders slumped, she was obviously dissapointed that she had not been chosen over the other bats. Gregor felt Luxa's hand tighten around his, he could practically feel the stress from the impending question.

"What should I do, because I will not take not helping for an answer" Luxa stared sraight at Ripred. Silence fell over everyone and they looked at Ripred, except for Jupiter, Aurora, and Howard.

Ripred responded "Gregor can I talk to you over here, then I will answer your question your highness". Gregor got up, walked across the cold ground, and took a seat next to Ripred. Ripred's voice sounded polite almost like earlier during the flight, it was not like the rat. He did not say a word to Gregor though, he just turned his head back towards Luxa and gave a imperceptible nod. At this signal Aurora grabbed Luxa's arms with her claws. Gregor understood at that moment, they could not allow their queen to go into the heart of this fortress and risk death. On a personal note, he had attempted talking her out of coming a lot to no avail, this seemed like the only tangible option.

Anger flared up in her eyes as she yelled "LET ME GO!". Aurora almost lost her grip she was struggling so much, she looked up at Gregor with pleading eyes. Begging him to help her, they said if you really love me you will help free me. Gregor almost fell for it, but he let his mind think clearly. He did not want her in harms way, he knew what he would do if he truly loved her. He gave her a small nod, swinging his head from left to right slowly. The death glare she gave him in return almost made him bust into tears, he had to turn away from the scene.

He walked over to Ripred, "how long were you planning this, and why was I not informed". Stress, sadness, and anger could be seen in Gregor's eyes, and he felt like he was radiating those feelings as well.

Ripred seemed like he did not want to answer his question "look here boy, I had no idea if you were going to be willing to follow the plan. I could not risk you alerting Luxa to our intentions". Gregor guessed it made a little sense, but he did not respond.

Instead he turned and walked to the edge of the cave taking a seat, staring into the darkness. It made sense now, Ripred had needed him to distract Luxa long enough for him to explain the plan to Aurora. A little later Enos came and took a seat beside him. He wrapped a wing around him in a comforting fashion, Gregor breathed in and out trying to steady his breathing, he did not want to burst into tears.

For a long time they sat there in silence, then Gregor asked the question that had been nagging him since he sat down "Do you think that...uh...Luxa still loves me?". Gregor new it was a ridiculous question, and he knew Enos's answer before he said it.

Enos gave him an incredulous look and said in a confident voice "of course, she may be angry right now, but she will not let that get in between you and her". Gregor leaned against Enos, he felt like he was the best friend he could have asked for. They sat there for a while, Gregor was beginning to consider something. He had gotten to know Enos better in the last about week, than he had ever gotten to know Larry. He had pushed the thought out of his mind, swearing to himself that he would never let it back in 'bonding'. He turned towards Enos, he felt it was time to ask "Enos, will you...".

He was cut off by Ripred saying "everyone, we will be departing immediately".

Enos responded "will I what?". Gregor had lost the courage he had built up to say it, so he shifted his eyes towards the ground.

"Never mind, it can wait till later", he could not ask now, the monent was gone. In an excited tone, to change the mood he added "lets go kill some stingers" and hopped up onto his feet.

Enos bent to the side, a smile creeping across his face "I could not agree with you more". Once he was on his back Gregor looked back at Luxa, she had her hands tied behind her back, and a gag put in her mouth. She still gave Gregor the same intensity of glare, but he knew she did not mean anything by it, or at least that is what he allowed himself to believe. He could not help but take a mental picture of how she looked right now, this may be the last time he would ever see her. With that they took off and began heading to the base, that would bring them one step closer to solving the mystery of the door.

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